PiBoatMon

A system to turn a Raspberry PI into a low power boat monitoring solution. It is configured by Puppet and then runs a Python script that checks the systems like Bilge Switch, GPS location, battery volts and sends an SMS if in alarm.

Background

I want to know;

My boat is where I left it (anchor/morring)
It is not filling with water - aka afloat
The batteries are ok, and I have not left something on!
Not consume loads of power doing so

Design

It's design requirements are;

Low power (20ma idle)
Anchor / Mooring Alarm
Battery monitoring (volts)
Bilge monitoring
Not designed to be on all the time (due to power)
Use SMS as the lower common demoninator of communication
Daily status messages SMS messages

Logic summary

Basically it works thus;

Runs gpsDate to get time from GPS RTC (no need for GPS fix)
Removes old log
Starts the pythong program by reading config
Starts a GPS thread logging GPS positions
Wait till uptime is 55 secs as mopi will not shutdown
Checks for inbound SMS messages from a 3G USB modem
Checks the anchor Alarm
Checks battery state
Checks a bilge switch
Checks to see if it needs to send a status SMS
Logs present status and pings and https server the same info
Checks for a GPS fix, and stays awake for upto another 60 secs to get one
Waits till uptime is 60 secs (otherwise mopi will not shutdown)
Adds logs to daily log
Removes logs older than X
Goes to sleep for a configurable time (rinse/repeate)

How it works

Uses a PI for size, cost and low power - in developement I use a Model B, so that I can ssh into it. The production version is a Model A+
Uses a stripped down Rasbian image
Uses an Adafruit Ultimate GPS connected to the PI reconfigured UART
Uses a 3G USB modem to send/receive SMS messages
Uses a mopi stackable to sleep/wake, get battery Volts and have backup power
Uses Python with a bit of shell
Uses GPIO pin 18 connected to a bilge switch and can alarm on that
Uses Puppet to configure the host, install all the needed packages and configure the services

GPS Battery Backup

The Adafruit Ultimate GPS has a CR1220 coin cell holder that will power Real Time Clock (RTC) which should last around 1 year. See more details from Adafruit here

Bill Of Mattieals

(Prices include UK VAT but not Shipping - YMMV)

Total around £160 ex Shipping. There are enough of some parts here to make a few. The tinned cable is quite expensive, and there is enough there to make 5 ore more!

I have no connection with any of these sellers

Mopi Pimoroni £35
Adafruit Ultimate GPS Pimoroni £34, Amazon £33.99
Raspberry PI Model A+ RS £18.61, Amazon £19.50, [Maplin £17.99] (http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/raspberry-pi-model-a-256-mb-mainboard-n03ea?gclid=COS-1fa59cICFWXHtAodwlYA1g), Farnel £18.62
8GB Mini SD card Various £4
GPS Attenna Ebay £3.26
HQRP UFL to SMA Connectors (need 2) [Pack Ebay £8.63] (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/390918412574?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT)
Female to Female Breadboard Jumper Cables - need 7 Pack Amazon £1.25
Secure Fix Direct Auto Float Switch (identical to Rule) Amazon £8.95
Energizer 633287 9V Lithium Battery Amazon £6.00
One CR1220 3V Lithium GPS Battery Pack Amazon £1.65
USB to UART module Ebay £1.19
Two Waterproof Cable Glands 3-6.5mm Pack Ebay £2.20
Tinned Two Core 1.5mm2 Cable (5.7mm dia) for power supply / bilge extenion 30M Ebay £38
Wireless GSM or better Modem SIM 900 Ebay £14.50, E160 Ebay £10 ish
Solder assume you have ...
Box - steal one from the kitchen - might use a Peli later

Picture

This is the developement board in the best tupperware I could find. This is not supposed to be used on a boat for a few reasons. Gives you an idea of parts etc...

Production Version

The production system is different and based on

SIM800 or SIM900 or equiv Modem with a smaller, better antenna, as these are smaller, simpler (no usbswitch) and use less power. I like the look of the ADAfruit Fona avalable from protpic £33.56, or Amazon £59 Ouch, or Ebay £42. Although more expensive than a 2nd hand USB 3G one, should take less power, smaller, more reliable, and more features (in built HTTP posting)
Raspberry Pi A+, smaller, lower power
External GPS antenna so that we can get a better fix

Configuration

The Python script is configured in two ways;

By a confuration file boatmon.config
By sending the SMS number configuration messages

By far the easiest is config by SMS.

Config Script

The python script uses a config file called boatmon.config which looks like:

debug = False
wakeinnsecs = 900
sendstatus = False
dailystatus = 0800
lastdailystatuscheck = 2014-12-25 09:42:51.093899
alarmlat = 51.0138383332
alarmlon = -0.449643888667
alarmrange = 25
regularstatus = True
iteration = 34
lastruntime = 2014-12-25 18:59:32.612709
batteryokmvolts = 1100
phone = +44123456789
boatname = Regina

Note this config file also has state info in it. Naughty I know.

Config SMS

The system understands the following config SMS messages - if it does not understand you will either get a hint as a reply or no reply...

setup - Sets the registers phone, and ensures it can get a GPS fix
set boatname NAME - Sets the boatname prefix to SMS messages
set phone NUMBER - Sets the registered phone number to send messages to remeber to include the International STD code (ie +44 for UK)
set daily status TIMEUTC|off - Sets/Disables a daily status SMS message
set anchor alarm DISTANCEINM|off - Sets/Disables the anchor alarm (records the fix) and sets the distance given as the alarm range. If no distance given defaults to 100M
set debug on|off - Enables|Disabled Debuging - basically lots of logging, however will also always send an SMS Status message when it runs
set regular status on|off - Enables|Disables a regular status message each time it runs. This can be a used as a regular running log when moving, if an anchor alarm has been set before departure.
send state - Will reply with a status SMS
set sleep time MINS - Will set the time the Pi goes to sleep - suggest around 60 mins, cannot be less than 1 (minute)
set battery ok volts Mvolts - Will set the milivolts at which the PI will report main battery OK or not
shutdown - Will shutdown and never wake up. Only from the registered phone. Replies with an SMS. Will need to be manually restarted.
send instructions - Sends a short instructions SMS (edited version of this)
send config - Sends the present config to registered phone

Logging

It will info log to /home/pi/piboatmon/files/piboatmon.log
If debugging is on, it will log all sorts of usefull info
Info logging just records changes of state

Install

Assumes the PI has a network connection
Assumes the GPS and 3G modem are connected/working

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get -y install puppet
cd /tmp
git clone https://github.com/gregcope/piboatmon.git
cd piboatmon/manifests
sudo puppet apply init.pp --modulepath=../..
sudo apt-get -y upgrade
sudo apt-get -y autoremove
sudo reboot

Running it

You must have run the install without any errors
This is basically what will run at boot ...

sudo sudo /home/pi/piboatmon/files/piboatmon.py

To check the logs as it runs you need to run the following before

tail -f /home/pi/piboatmon/files/piboatmon.log &

If you want to emulate what will happen at boot run (it will shutdown!!!);

sudo /home/pi/files/piBoatMon.sh

Upgrading

cd /tmp
git clone https://github.com/gregcope/piboatmon.git
cd piboatmon/manifests
sudo puppet apply init.pp --modulepath=../..

FAQ

Can it do WIFI? No It is designed to be mostly off. Might do another version with that.
Can it alarm when the bilge switch goes off immediately? No as it might be alseep. There is lots of logic complexity there (ie if on, what do you do when you've run and the switch is still high?
Can I run a bilge pump off the switch? No as this is connected directly to the PI 3.3V rail. 12V would really upset it.
Can it run a relay, to say run a bilge pump? Not in this version, but this should be easy to parse an SMS and put a relay on for X amount of time.
Not getting any SMS messages? Do you have SMS credit? Is the modem unlocked to your network, is it is working?
Not getting SMS messages, but had some before? SMS Credit? Battery power? try sending set debug on or set regular status on to get SMS messages when ever it runs. If you watch it run (ie you see the flashing LEDS), but no SMS, this is either an SMS/Modem fault or a code issue.
GPS criteria? We need a GPS with an RTC Battery to enable fast fixes, otherwise it take most GPS units over a minute to fix... which is too long, as the code is running 25 secs afterboot, and then the logic takes only a few seconds, most of which is waiting on the modem.
GPS Accuracy? Do you have an external SMA antenna fitted, does it have a good view of the sky? Otherwise GPS accuracy is likely to be poor.
The SMS messages have the wrong time like 00:00:50? The timezone is based on UTC, but if this is not a timezone issue, it is likely that the unit is not getting a GPS fix in time as it depends on this to set the time, as the RPI has no RTC. Try texting setup to the unit to get GPS feedback.
What does BatX Missing mean? One of the batteries is either very dead, or disconnected. If Bat2 then please replace the 9v reserve battery.
What is the number on the end of the each SMS? Each SMS ends with a number which is the number of runs that the system has done. Hopefully this will get quite big!
Time is off by a few seconds This does not do GPS leap second correction as this list needs updates. However it does not need to be second perfect on timing.
Sent some SMS instructions, No response Some Mobile providers offer poor service, and these may not be getting though (aka Giffgaff). Consider switching!!! Try sending a message from another phone (e.g. set phone NewPhoneNum and it should reply to both phones (you will need to set it back with set phone the_phone_num_you_used_before if you want your original.