Hardware
Open Depths crowdsourced soundings can be powered by a variety of hardware devices that you can use with the platform.
Each unit is paired with your account during set up, and will upload soundings whenever powered on, through your phone's data connection.
We recommend minimal ESP32-type hardware for it's cheap cost and capable features like Wifi, right out of the box. See below for firmware generation instructions.
Reading from NMEA 0183 sensor
Most chart plotters ingest and repeat NMEA 0183 sensors, like the tranducer depth value and GPS position.
These values can be directly read by most ESP32 devices with two connections: read the transmit (TX) wire passing through a 1kΩ and the ground.
The reference implementation reads from the G32 GPIO pin which is conveniently on the Grove connector. Power can be provided via USB or any 5v source.
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Reading from NMEA 2000 network
More substantial vessels have an entire network that connects different sensors. Open Depths hardware can read data off that network through a CAN bus reader.
NMEA 2000 networks also carry power, which can optionally be used to power the ESP32 through a power buck. Of course, if you have USB-C power nearby, thats always easier.
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Firmware
Using our AI prompt is the easiest way to adapt the firmware to your specific hardware.
Fetch the reference firmware overview: https://opendepths.app/hardware/firmware-prompt.md
Prompt the user for the type of sensor they want to read from, the hardware they have purchased and how they want to power the unit.
Then, plan out the firmware for this specific hardware.