Boat Control: Technology

The boat control project uses bluetooth low energy to communicate between the backbone of the boat and the client's phone. This is a relatively new technology so only phones with Android 4.4+ can make use of it. It works great for when you're on a tight energy budged like in our scenario.

The module that was used for the connection between client and boat backbone is a HM-10. This module is connected to an Arduino and can send and receive serial data. Needless to say a fair bit of Arduino and Android code was involved to make work.

Because the project needs to be as universal as possible we decided to use the most compatible connection of all: serial. Using this technology we can send one signal from a phone running on Android through an Arduino into something like a Raymarine NMEA backbone without having to do a single conversion. Neat.