Raspberry Pi Powered Watersports Ride Requests

[tracerrx]

I was joking around with a friend last time we were out at the lake and trying to coordinate 15 kids taking turns "Watersporting"... We joked about creating an app... I had an extra raspberry pi laying around, so over a weekend we patched together a "Web Application" (Note that this is not a native iPhone app, just a web page that loads like an app). It's written in PHP and uses Bootstrap 4 for layout, MariaDB for database.

I have attached some screen shots of our beta app (with beta rider data). If anyone's interested maybe I'll post it to github.

Some key features

• Current rider behind boat is highlighted in green
• On Deck rider highlighted in yellow
• Riders request rides
• Currently limits riders to 2 "open" requests
• Certain activities (tubing tandem ski) allow for multiple riders
• Captain can change priority/delete of rides
• Captains screen display pull speed
• Pull speed is determined by age/activity when new riders are entered
• When captain "Ends" a ride, he gives the rider a star rating, and is able to change pull speed for future rides for that specific rider/activity

 

[BigAbe75]

Very cool! I can see a use for this at family reunions or other large gatherings where you’re ferrying folks to/from the dock to get all the rides in.

Can captain adjust the order to group like events? So you can blow up the tube once then put it away for board sports. Or clump the surfers together for managing ballast.

 

[tracerrx]

Very cool! I can see a use for this at family reunions or other large gatherings where you’re ferrying folks to/from the dock to get all the rides in.

Can captain adjust the order to group like events? So you can blow up the tube once then put it away for board sports. Or clump the surfers together for managing ballast.

Exactly THIS! Currently the captin can Re-Order the ride requests... So you can send all the wakesurfers/tubers to the bottom if the boat is setup for skiing etc...

What I need now is a giant screen at the dock so the kids swimming get their gear on and get ready before I drop the next skier... We aim for quick turns (Like southwest airlines)!

 

[Bruce]

That is fun.

I use a Pi to play music on the boat. The head unit is just a volume control now. I have considered removing it.

Kyocera's Hydro phones are somewhat waterproof and useful for controlling the Pi at a cost of less than $50.

I would love to find an inexpensive waterproof phone with wireless charging.

 

[BigAbe75]

is Speed set by the activity (tube = x, surf = y), or the user profile (under 10 yrs = x), or user specified request ( I want to ski at x) ?

For more advanced riders, you may want to include the option for folks to request speed (then captain correct it with actual speed) for future rides. Not real sure how that would be implemented.

Also, add options per sport. Like Wakesurf activity, option would be Side (regular or goofy). If doing that you could just have 1 Ski activity with option to identify Slalom vs Regular.

When users register, include lifejacket size in their profile. Captain can review sizes to confirm whether something special is needed.

Sorry, my guys at work call me the king of feature creep. Lol


You may need a trained first mate to handle this while you just drive and do setup for next activity. Lol

 

[2kwik4u]

A couple thoughts.

Damn this is neat.

My family isn't that big or interested in the water

My boat doesn't hold that many people

Did I mention this is pretty cool? It's pretty cool!

EDIT.....

Wait, are you putting a kiosk on the dock, and then a link to pad on the boat? SO kids come up, sign in, then wait at the dock until it's thier turn?

 

[tracerrx]

That is fun.

I use a Pi to play music on the boat. The head unit is just a volume control now. I have considered removing it.

Kyocera's Hydro phones are somewhat waterproof and useful for controlling the Pi at a cost of less than $50.

I would love to find an inexpensive waterproof phone with wireless charging.

So i'm using a pi but you can serve it from anything running a webserver... I considered 3 options:

1. Put the raspberry on the boat. The pi would act as the wifi hotspot, only access to the app would be when connected to this hotspot. Works great for people on the boat, but not for riders at the dock when they are out of range of the hotspot.
2. Put the raspberry on the local lan. This works great for the people on the dock, but captain can only access when he's at the dock.
3. Make the webserver available publicly. This way it's acessible by both parties on any wifi or cellular connection. This is how I currently have it setup using a old domain i had lying around... but something like DYNdns would work too.

 

[tracerrx]

A couple thoughts.

Damn this is neat.

My family isn't that big or interested in the water

My boat doesn't hold that many people

Did I mention this is pretty cool? It's pretty cool!

EDIT.....

Wait, are you putting a kiosk on the dock, and then a link to pad on the boat? SO kids come up, sign in, then wait at the dock until it's thier turn?

Thanks!

Yes... Waterproof touchscreen kiosk on dock is in the works : )

Currently kids use thier/or parents cellphone to request rides... There is always at least one adult on the dock with a cell phone.

 

[tracerrx]

is Speed set by the activity (tube = x, surf = y), or the user profile (under 10 yrs = x), or user specified request ( I want to ski at x) ?

For more advanced riders, you may want to include the option for folks to request speed (then captain correct it with actual speed) for future rides. Not real sure how that would be implemented.

Also, add options per sport. Like Wakesurf activity, option would be Side (regular or goofy). If doing that you could just have 1 Ski activity with option to identify Slalom vs Regular.

When users register, include lifejacket size in their profile. Captain can review sizes to confirm whether something special is needed.

Sorry, my guys at work call me the king of feature creep. Lol


You may need a trained first mate to handle this while you just drive and do setup for next activity. Lol

Heh heh... definitely king of creep...

Initial version had riders requesting speed, but I removed it as it just complicated matters. Much simpler to have default speeds set, then have the captain override it for next time if was wrong. Kids never remember what speed they were at previously... And the boys always want faster then what they should be.

Initial version also had EQUIPMENT. I.e. which ski's wakeboard etc... Removed for same reason as above... just got messy.

Lifejacket size is a GREAT idea... will add it to TODO.

I just took a quick screenshot.. But I do have SKI, Ski Tandem(2), Ski Tandem (3), Slalom alll loaded as activities.. Tube from 1-5 riders.

 

[BigAbe75]

love it!

I agree, it's easy to get too much stuff in there. Really all you need is name, number of riders involved and activity. The rest can all be done on the fly by the captain.

'Course version 4 or 5 you could make available to charter captains that sell by the ride or something, where having every last detail in the log is more important. Just saw someone (on FB maybe) in the Keys that now charters out his 212X for guided days on the water.

 

[tracerrx]

love it!

I agree, it's easy to get too much stuff in there. Really all you need is name, number of riders involved and activity. The rest can all be done on the fly by the captain.

'Course version 4 or 5 you could make available to charter captains that sell by the ride or something, where having every last detail in the log is more important. Just saw someone (on FB maybe) in the Keys that now charters out his 212X for guided days on the water.

There goes the king of creep again!

v4--> Should introduce the "DJI Drone Auto-Follow Skier and video capture" feature
v5--> Should be Remote boat control from phone... I.e. a big button that says "Pull skier and return to dock without sucking up a rope".. Fully automated, no need to get on the boat for those days when its HOT with no breeze...

 

[BigAbe75]

love it!

'Course version 4 or 5 you could make available to charter captains that sell by the ride or something, where having every last detail in the log is more important. Just saw someone (on FB maybe) in the Keys that now charters out his 212X for guided days on the water.

Found it: Adventurestartshere

Captain Anthony might be a genius! Few days a month at these rates and that boat will be paid for in no time. Too bad, I don't think the market here in Central IL will support those rates, though. Lol

 

[swatski]

There goes the king of creep again!

v4--> Should introduce the "DJI Drone Auto-Follow Skier and video capture" feature
v5--> Should be Remote boat control from phone... I.e. a big button that says "Pull skier and return to dock without sucking up a rope".. Fully automated, no need to get on the boat for those days when its HOT with no breeze...

Super neat idea!
We have been using the @Ridesteady for keeping track of riders/kids activities/times behind the boat - saved us from open riots and mutiny during lake vacations, lol.
But a kiosk with a large display would be awesome!

—

 

[tracerrx]

Somone requested the default rider/activity/speed... They are customizable in the Database.. But here's what im using for now. Note that this is just the defaults when you add a new rider... After you END RIDE you are prompted to change this value for future rides

 

[tracerrx]

Super neat idea!
We have been using the @Ridesteady for keeping track of riders/kids activities/times behind the boat - saved us from open riots and mutiny during lake vacations, lol.
But a kiosk with a large display would be awesome!

—

I have Perfect Pass, which is great... But it's all about keeping the "Riots" in check...

It's also seems to make things go quicker when you have many riders

 

[tracerrx]

Found it: Adventurestartshere

Captain Anthony might be a genius! Few days a month at these rates and that boat will be paid for in no time. Too bad, I don't think the market here in Central IL will support those rates, though. Lol

$200/Hour for watersports!

 

[2kwik4u]

Found it: Adventurestartshere

Captain Anthony might be a genius! Few days a month at these rates and that boat will be paid for in no time. Too bad, I don't think the market here in Central IL will support those rates, though. Lol

I've thought about that kind of service for years. Never had a boat nice enough, or an area with enough demand to really justify it. I would LOVE to be a wakeboard instructor or something like that. Getting paid at any level to host people on the boat has some be some level of dream job right?

 

[Bruce]

@tracerrx, I tried using the Pi as a WiFi AP. I know I could have bought better USB based gear but the small dongles that I used were quite limited in range.

I have used a variety of Ubquiti or Mikrotik gear that I had laying around. For the last year or so I have used a Mikrotik RB951Ui-2HnD to provide WiFi. Before buying the (disposable) Kyocera phones I used 5Ghz AP in the boat so I could have a 2.4ghz client without concern of interference. The Kyoceras only work on 2.4 so I switched to 2.4 for the boat AP.

 

[tracerrx]

@tracerrx, I tried using the Pi as a WiFi AP. I know I could have bought better USB based gear but the small dongles that I used were quite limited in range.

I have used a variety of Ubquiti or Mikrotik gear that I had laying around. For the last year or so I have used a Mikrotik RB951Ui-2HnD to provide WiFi. Before buying the (disposable) Kyocera phones I used 5Ghz AP in the boat so I could have a 2.4ghz client without concern of interference. The Kyoceras only work on 2.4 so I switched to 2.4 for the boat AP.

Your worse then me... Your providing your passengers with WiFi on the boat!? That's great...! I love the Ubiquiti gear and use a couple Nano's to get a 300mps link down to my dock for the security cameras...