Jack Edwards Boat Autopilot Based on Mega 2560- Heading, GPS and Knob Steering.

Using Arduino Project Guidance
#1

I have built an Autopilot for my boat using the instructions by a man named Jack Edwards. He has a short youtube video showing how it works on his 40 foot sailboat wilecoyote..

Unfortunately, I cannot get the software and libraries he put on his dropbox to work on my computer.

I contacted him, and he said his last version had a typo, and he fixed it, but I tried that one again, and had the same problems. I even used an earlier version of both his software, and arduino IDE, and still no joy.

I am new to this, not computer savvy. SO maybe I am dong something wrong.Or maybe my computer got a glitch because I don't know what I am doing.

Here are the problems:

  1. His zip file will not load using the add zip function of Arduino. So, I unzip them and put them into a folder I create (named autopilot) in the documents-Arduino Folder on my Computer. I even tried to put it in the Arduino folder in the x86 program folder, but that didn't work either.

  2. I unzip his library folder and I put them inside the Library folder in documents-Arduiono- Library

  3. When I finally get the file into IDE, and I click verify, I usually get a message- "exit status 1. error compiling for board arduino/genuino mega and mega 2560".

  4. Other files (sketches?) give the message: "timer" (or whatever) was not declared in this scope". It will highlight the portion of the code it is referring to.

  5. I also get "invalid library found in C:\users\garry\documents\arduino\libraries

  6. I also often get the message "the sketchbook folder no longer exists. Arduino will switch to the default sketchbook location, and create a new sketchbook folder if necessary".

  7. When it creates the sketchbook folder at this new location, it is in a temporary location, which does not seem correct to me.

  8. When I click show sketchbook folder, it shows me a temporary location, not the arduino folder in documents.

I have tried uninstalling the latest version, and reinstalling it twice. I have tried installing the previous release, and it really looks like things are worse now then when I first started.

Here is a link to his drop box. If someone could try to verify his Autopilot Latest version, and his Libraries, to see if they will verify for an Arduino Mega 2560, I would greatly appreciate it. At least then I will know if his product is good, or if it is a problem with me.

THANK YOU ALL. I DESPERATELY NEED HELP BECAUSE I HAVE EVERYTHING WIRED UP EXACTLY AS HE RECOMMENDED, WITH THE EXACT SAME PARTS, AND THE SOFTWARE WILL NOT WORK.

garrymny.

#2

This is not a project for a beginner.

There is absolutely no reason to assume that a specialized project like this, posted on the web, will work for anyone but the original author, on the original equipment.

For these reasons, the forum experts are extremely unlikely to want to wade through everything, figure out how it is supposed to work, find potential errors and fix them for you.

An autopilot is a terrific project, but you must start at the beginning and work your way up to it. Or, buy a commercial autopilot.

#3