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Surf Actuator

Arduino GPS Surf Actuator controller

Surfgate

An Arduino/GPS controller to automatically deploy and retract your actuator controlled DIY wake gates/tabs at apprioriate speeds. Can customize to your specific solution but out of box includes:

  • GPS speed control - automatically deploy at 8mph, retract above 14 (customizable if you prefer other settings.)
  • SPDT switch to control surf side (LEFT/OFF/RIGHT)
  • Optional Dial to adjust deployment of gates for each side (IE: deploy gate 75% on right, 65% on left.)
  • Optional Button on dial to save current gate settings, reset any stuck actuators and reboot the arduino. Settings persist across reboots.
  • Optional Status LED (fast flashes if GPS/error, slow flash when tabs are moving, solid when deployed.)
  • Optional "surf band" to switch sides of waves via a waterproof band

Parts List:

Wiring Instructions

(Also described in text detail below if you'd rather than than the diagram.) fritzing RED/BLACK = power/gnd, YELLOW = motor controller, BLUE = GPS, ORANGE = Rotary Encoder, GREEN = Surf switch, Purple = LED

Relays:

  • Do NOT try to drive your lenco actuators directly(!) You need to use marine relays to drive them (https://www.amazon.com/PACK-AMP-Waterproof-Relay-Harness/dp/B074FSZWVT/) you'll need 4 total.
  • Wire your relays according to lenco diagrams (1 relay per direction/tab) and you'll toggle them with the motor driver in the arduino.
  • Wire your actuators with enough power (a single 25A circuit to the back of the boat is fine.)
  • This is not covered in detail here as it's well documented online already - and unrelated to this project!

Power:

  • Since everything except the actuators is very low draw all wiring can be 18-22AWG
  • REMOVE 5V REGULATOR JUMPER ON L298N. This is a small jumper by itself on the board.

No soldering

  • If you used the no-solder power supply above, just wire the in to your 12v power, out to the VIN pin and GND on your arduino.

Soldering:

  • Wire power to the LM2596 "in" solder pads. Wire this to something that is not always powered or you'll kill your battery.
  • Also solder a lead onto the LM2596 "in" solder pads to go directly to the L298N 12V in.
  • Connect your LM2596 to a 12V source after turning the gold dial counter-clockwise 15-20 times. Use a multimeter to measure out pads until you get to 7-8V out.
  • Solder wire on the LM2596 "out" solder pads to run to VIN/GND on arduino.

GPS

  • Solder or connect 3v3 (+) and GND (-) to arduino pins.
  • Connect RX/TX to pin D8/D9 on arduino

L298N

  • Connect the 12v/GND to the raw power in (the source 12V not the ardiuno power.)
  • Connect 5v to the arduino
  • Connect the 4 IN1/IN2/IN3/IN4 to A2/A3/A4/A5
  • Connect the OUT1 and OUT2 to the actuator relay at the back of the boat.
  • Connect the OUT3 and OUT4 to the actuator relay at the back of the boat.

Wiring controls:

Encoder:

Wire each to:

  • DT to D5
  • CLK to D4
  • ROTBUTTON to D6(Might be SWT/SWTCH on yours, its the open pin)
  • 5V to the +
  • GND shared between led/switch - wire to whichever you prefer

LED:

  • LED + to D3 (I used a 12V LED but am feeding it 7v and its fine.)
  • GND shared between encoder/switch - wire to whichever you prefer

SWITCH:

  • LEFT DEPLOY to D10
  • RIGHT DEPLOY to D11
  • GND (and GND for encoder/light)

Install

  • Install the arduino IDE and open the .ino sketch in the project.
  • PLug in your USB cable to you arduino
  • Select your board and port from the menu (nano/uno)
  • Install the NeoGPS, EEROM and AltSoftSerial packages if they are not installed (Sketch -> Include library -> manage)
  • Upload code to your arduino - there's no required code changes out of box.
  • Open serial monitor and you should see it running - it will post a status update every second. If serial isnt working check the baud rate (9600) and the port.

Testing

You can easily test this before installing in your boat:

  • The code logs everything to the serial port when there are any changes - and full status updates once a second, so you can connect a USB cable and use the serial monitor to monitor in the arduino IDE in real time whats happening

  • Uncomment speedlimit=1; towards the end of the code by removing the leading // and upload the new code.

  • Plug your new power cables into a 12v source (IE: a wall wart with a screw adapter is super easy: https://www.amazon.com/inShareplus-Mounted-Switching-Connector-Adapter/dp/B01GD4ZQRS/ - otherwise just connect whatever 8-25v source you can.)

  • Connect a multimeter to the one of your actuator triggers (these are the wires that go to the actuator relays - out of the L298N motor controller.

  • Flip surf on that side you are using (if you dont get anything, try the other side.) You should see the multimeter read 12v/-12v or so depending on how you have it hooked up. This will only run for 3.5 seconds - so you might miss it if you aren't ready. If you used a different source voltage than 12v, you will see that on the multimeter instead, it is whatever you are feeding it.

  • Turn off the switch, you should see the reverse of above (-12/12)

  • Repeat for the other side

  • You have confirmed the actuator controls are all good now -- you can continue testing below if you want - otherwise dont forget to comment out the speedlimit=1; and reupload the code.

  • With one switch in surf mode and the multimeter connected to that side, turn your rotary encoder a bunch of clicks. You should see the multimeter trigger again within 1 second for whatever duration you chose.

  • Switch surf off and hold down the rotary button for 5-10 seconds and let go, you should see the multimeter again "retract" (it is retracting both at the same time, but you're only caputring the one the multimeter is connected to.)

  • Once you are happy with how everything is working, comment speedlimit=1; out again and upload the code. You are now ready to test on the water.

Usage

  • Once on the water, switch surf to your preferred side and accelerate to atleast 8mph (editable at top of code.)
  • The tab will deploy for 3.5 seconds by default (on opposite side, if you wired backwards, just fix at acutator wiring or update code.)
  • To change the deploy time turn the dial counterclockwise to increase time, clockwise to decrease.
  • Once you have found a good deploy time you can press the rotary button at anytime to save that as your new default setting
  • If you have issues or a tab stuck deployed hold down the rotary button for 5 seconds and all tabs will retract fully (you'll need to switch back into surf mode probably.)
  • If you have an issue and need to reboot hold down the rotary button for 15 seconds and let go, it will restart the arduino loop.

Notes

  • If you used a small project box you can pull your arduino nano to reprogram it easily - or have a spare ready to swap in anytime.
  • Make sure you dont feed 12-14V to your arduino or it will most likely die
  • Wiring choices are up to you - you can use cat5 without issue and it makes it easy to wire jacks out of the control box. I dont recommend 8-10 conductor 18AWG wire as it is too bulky and stiff to be workable (from experience.)
  • I use 4x4x2 electrical boxes with lids from homedepot for my projects - cheap, waterproof, somewhat tight for all these components - but they do all fit. Everything in box: built
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