NMEA Output!!!!

[Royerm]

Good mornin.
Has there been any new thought about having NMEA output coming out of the EFB????
Thx

 

[Walter Boyd]

Yes. You can do it today from our portables, of course. Currently the only option to get it from the iFly EFB app is to use an iLevil SW or AW, which is an ADSB device with a serial output. We can proxy the NMEA data through this port. But we are considering some cheaper hardware solutions for this - a Bluetooth to Serial device, for example. But don't have a timeframe for that solution yet. I suggest posting your request in the Feature forum so we can see what sort of votes it gets.

 

[Royerm]

My reason for asking is that I have a 740b that can talk to my Auto Pilot with an NMEA sentence, I'm not ready
to revamp my autopilot for an iLevil that works very well.
Regards

 

[valsoar]

The Android to Serial issue has been tackled in the soaring community for communication between Android devices and GPS and other serial instruments.

These are generally user built kits, but shows it is possible.

see:

Top Hat Soaring -IOIO OTG Box

Top Hat Soaring is a glide computer for gliders and paragliders and hang gliders. The goal of Top Hat is to create a simpler user interface so that the pilot can focus on flying the ship. Top Hat is an open source project that runs on Android, Linux and PC platforms.

www.tophatsoaring.org

and soartronic.net.

Look at XC Soar, LK8000 for examples of software running on Android talking to serial devices via IOIO.

 

[Cobra]

These are generally user built kits, but shows it is possible.

I don't think it's necessarily been a question of, "Is it possible?" I think for AP, it's been more a question of, "Is there a solution that won't cause us to spend dozens of support hours per user helping them get it set up and keep it working?"

 

[Chad]

That is the value of user groups like this. Once we have the functionality available, we can make sure best practices are shared on this group on how to set up. I have used this group multiple times to find answers to questions that are not covered in the User Manual for iFly.

I don't think it's necessarily been a question of, "Is it possible?" I think for AP, it's been more a question of, "Is there a solution that won't cause us to spend dozens of support hours per user helping them get it set up and keep it working?"

 

[Cobra]

That is the value of user groups like this. Once we have the functionality available, we can make sure best practices are shared on this group on how to set up. I have used this group multiple times to find answers to questions that are not covered in the User Manual for iFly.

I agree, and I'm really happy the forum continues to exist!

But there are lots of iFly users who don't use the forum, or don't use it frequently. It's still a business decision for AP to figure out if a feature they offer will be more trouble than it's worth. They've been bitten by that before.

 

[smoke]

There are several tablets out there that have a usb/serial output, negating the need for an external piece of hardware(failure point)

 

[Hook]

Smoke: I see with some searching that there are such animals out there (Android tablets for instance that supposedly have serial interfaces). Question is: why hasn't anyone brought that up before (that I've noticed)? Seems like all the talk has been about how to convert USB output to serial to be able to interface with autopilots. Can you post any examples of some commonly available or name-brand tablets? What I've been coming up with in searches seem to be no-name Chinese tablets from wholesalers.

I do agree with you that a native interface is better than some add-on piece of hardware. But I also still stick to my thesis that overall, you want something that is made for panel-mounting, vs handheld use.

 

[smoke]

Hook, The Tripletek9 would be my first choice as it has a USB out as well as a dedicated charging port. Tripletek offers a vehicle mount for RAM mount products. As far as a panel dock is concerned, I believe that there are several small companies that could produce them with 3D printing. There is a fella in the RV8 group that makes these for any IPAD model.

 

[Chad]

Making a 3d printed panel mount solution is trivial. If we narrow down to a solution or two I can quickly create an STL that can be printed pretty much anywhere. I would stick with ABS filament due to the solar exposure and you can also throw a little PC fan in the back to cool it.

As for the USB vs a DB9 Serial. Most manufactures are looking to optimize space. A USB port is a multitasker, while a DB-9 serial is bulky and not that useful beyond communications. At work we have a use case for serial interface into a tablet (~1900 units are in use daily) we ended up using the a tablet that was USB because of the flexibility, weigh and cost savings. We have a USB to serial dongle we created to interface with the camera. The only reason we created that is due to the form factor on both ends. No DB-9, but a ribbon cable on the camera side.

If it is something you want, make sure you vote for the enhancement in the other sub-forum.