Introduction
OpenPlotter (Ref.1) is a Linux based Operating System that runs on the Raspberry Pi computer. The Raspberry Pi is extremely popular in the education field. It is well documented, compact and requires very little power. This makes it ideal to form the basis of an electronics navigation system for a small craft.
Installation
The installation of OpenPlotter is very similat to the installation of the Raspbian OS. Go to the OpenMarine website (Fig.1) and download the OpenPlotter Starter version zip file. I will install this on a Raspberry Pi3B. Later we can examine the Moitessier Hat running on the RPi4. Next go to the RaspberryPi site and download the RPi Imager software to write the OS to the SD card (Fig.2). Locate and unzip the OpenPlotter zip file. Next run the RPi Image writer, locate the unzipped image file, then find the SD card device to write to. YouTube Video Fig.3 shows the complete procedure. In later posts, I will show how we can integrate all the various Navigation devices into this platform. Once OpenPlotter successfully installs, the Raspbian OS requires a few more setup items such as your country, timezone, keyboard layout & password. The OS will then check for updates over the internet connection if you are connected.
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References
#1. -“Openplotter”
https://www.openmarine.net/openplotter
#2. – “Raspberry Pi Image Writer”
https://www.raspberrypi.org/software/
#3. – “OpenCPN”
https://www.opencpn.org/
