Welcome to Jon's Mini-Sub Page...

Computer System

The sub will eventually have a full onboard computer system, with an LCD touch-screen (all programmed by myself, of course). Basically, it will be a laptop computer, with the screen removed and mounted on the dash, and the CPU in a waterproof box.

The laptop will have a couple of PC Card (PCMCIA) devices to handle input from the GPS, and from the Video Camera mounted in the nose.

I will have a PIC micro-controller network that will gather analog & digital sensor input, put the information in packets, and send it up to the main system via the serial port, where it will be displayed on the screen when appropriate.

The main computer program will use speed, heading, and depth information to do dead reckoning navigation while underwater, and when it surfaces it will correct any drift errors with GPS. It will also monitor all the sensors in real-time, and have custom programmable alarms for dangerous situations (like cabin CO₂/O₂ concentration).

It will also have a 3D terrain map application, which will show the underwater terrain from navigation depth charts (where available) in 3D, with updates of the sub's position (in real-time) from the dead-reckoning navigation and GPS.

The screen will be a touch screen, with a custom touch user interface, and most of the main functions will be voice controlled. The display will be mounted in portrait mode (taller than it is wide), and the software I will write will have custom display routines to compensate for that.

All sensor state information will be logged in real-time on the hard drive, along with real-time video and audio input from the camera and microphones.

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