I’m not a CAD person, let alone a 3D CAD person, but recently I completed my first project, and I must say that I was really impressed at how quickly I could go from concept to finished product.
For our 550, I want to have a waterproof tablet at the helm to run software from iNav4u, which is basically AI for boating. The goal of it is to automate certain functions that would normally be handled by experienced crew, which may not always be awake/available. I strongly support the mission, but they have a ways to go.
There’s hardware on the boat watching what’s going on via N2K or NMEA data. Their software runs as a browser page. To handle this, I needed a waterproof tablet mounted at the helm, so I went out and purchased a used Dell 7220 for $320 USD. I also got a RailBlaza tablet mounting system, which I’ll mount at the helm. The problem was that I needed to power the tablet, and while the tablet was IP67, once you opened up the seals to plug it in, that IP rating went out of the window.
The good news was that the tablet has a gold plated docking station connector, and I was able to purchase a used Havis docking station for about $50, and scavenged the male connector off of that.
I have a friend who recently purchased a Bambu 3D printer, and offered to help me print a connector. I went over to his house, and we brainstormed on what to build, created an initial design, and printed it within 5 hours!
I took that home and decided that I wanted to make changes to it. But, that required learning the FreeCAD software that my friend was using. That took quite a few hours, but now I’m at a 101 level, and redesigned the connector from ground up, and learned a lot.
Today we reprinted it, and other than a problem with a typo on the spacing of the mounting screws, it turned out great. I keep trying to figure out if this is some thing that makes sense on a boat. I’m not sure, but I can easily see CADing a part and having someone local print it.
Here are some photos:
FreeCAD drawing:
Finished Product:
Tablet Mounted:
