KIP 2.4.1 - Lots of new features to this excellent software package! SignalK - KIP - OpenPlotter

In this video, we look at the new features that have been added to KIP, now on V2.4.1. This excellent software visualisation tool is available as part of the SignalK software to display your boat data.
For full details of all the changes, visit github.com/mxt... and do consider supporting the developers of all of these platforms however you can.
To list a few new features:
Updated wind instrument
New authentication method to automatically load configurations
New gesture control
Colours available in number and text displays
Race Timer
#SignalK #KIP #Openplotter #opensource #opensea
Our Website:
boatingwiththe...
Social Media:
Facebook: / boatingbaileys
Instagram: / boatingwiththebaileys
KZbin: / boatingwiththebaileys
If you wish to support us:
ko-fi.com/boat...

[@ApresSail]

Thanks Mat, I am using 2.4.1. and made some updates to the Derived Data Plugin to get things to display correctly. Looking forward to more great things from the Signal K and KIP teams!!

[@BoatingwiththeBaileys]

Hi, I'm also using the Derived Data plugin. I dont have true wind info on my network, its worked out by the Wind instrument so i've got that turned on and also time to waypoint which i think you created? Thanks for the comments and also looking forward to whats next for SingalK and Kip plus OP.

[@Amerona]

i watch your videos and just started to use KIP. Is there a way to display fuel or water gauge with the value in liter? Now its display ex. 0.756 which is percent. I want that multiplied with 175 and set up the gauge from 0-175. In this case i want to display 132 liter

[@BoatingwiththeBaileys]

Hi, the short answer is no. It can only convert units, it’s not possible to do custom calculations. You could do this in a package called Node-red which I’m currently learning myself. You can make the current one show out of 100% by using either ration or % I think. Video to follow on Node-red

[@G0KAD]

KIP is really good now. Looking forward to getting SignalK working on the Pi5 ready for the new season. Interested to know how you installed it.

[@BoatingwiththeBaileys]

Hi, For this video and my testing, I only put SK on and then Kip. I started with the latest OS and then followed this guide github.com/SignalK/signalk-server/blob/master/docs/src/installation/raspberry_pi_installation.md. I know the OP team are working on OP4 so im looking forward to that. The Pi5 really is quick.

[@bybeka1]

Thanks for the the great introduction to all the exciting new options in this wonderful piece of software! I wonder if the TTL option can help to the huge amount of of Ram memory That kip uses in Chromium when you let it running for several hours. Have you ever had this issue? How would you tackle that? Thanks!

[@BoatingwiththeBaileys]

Hi, i used to have an issue with the Pi3, but not the Pi4. How much RAM do you have and what is that looking like when you see this issue. Is it just that tab open? Do you have any other plug-ins? I do find Chromium can take up to a 1Gb by itself. So far I've found the TTL useful for distance and bearing to waypoint as you don't want that data staying visible, it then removes the green dot from the wind instrument and clears a field I have on my main setup. Its worth a try but if it's still receiving something in that field, it's likely to still be using some memory. This version is better than previous and responds really well.

[@Satorisails77]

It's nice to have a cleaner UI for SK web apps. I decided to use Grafana and InfluxDB on a Pi4 for displaying instrument metrics. Kip has a much better wind rose. Maybe it's time to port a similar UI into a Grafana plugin

[@BoatingwiththeBaileys]

Hi - I like both and im a bit stuck. I like the colours and thresholds you can create in Grafana but i find streaming the data on the Pi4 still a little slow in Grafana so i tend to use DB data in that and KIP for anything thats live. The Pi5 however, seems to stream well, so i might do a bit of both myself.

[@Werner-uj4lg]

Hi, thank's for the great videos. One question: If I want to make a data chart (e.g. a time series of the true wind speed), there is this Data Chart Widget now. It asks to select a dataset. Where do I get this dataset from. I know how to embed a web page showing chart data using grafana, but I was wondering how it can be done with this widget in KIP. Thank's Werner

[@BoatingwiththeBaileys]

Hi, thanks for the comments on the videos. Yes you can do that and in the new version of KIP, the data chart widget is really good. You need to go to settings and create that first. I think it’s called data sets, pick a path and say how long you want to record the data. It’s better for shorter terms, long term data look at Grafana. Once that’s done, you call that dataset in the widget. Have a go at setting that up and if you need some help let us know. 👍

[@Werner-uj4lg]

@@BoatingwiththeBaileys Perfect, it works now. Thank's a lot.

[@BoatingwiththeBaileys]

Excellent ⛵️👍

[@wrobelda]

Just wondering why is Home Assistant not a natural choice for such dashboards? It has all the flexibility and support of a vast community, plus it can be integrated with SignalK/Grafana easily.

[@BoatingwiththeBaileys]

Hi, Its a good question but I haven't yet seen a compass/wind wiget with the same level of detail as the one in KIP, thats now able to show bearing to waypoint and i think tidal data is next on the list as an example. Its the same with all this software, you want to borrow the best bits from each system. KIP is also incredibly efficent on the CPU when compaired to Grafana, i did some live data testing and it won hands down. I personally still think that OpenPlotter is the best of sailing/boating opensource software.

[@wrobelda]

@@BoatingwiththeBaileys I saw that KIP widget and it's impressive. It's a pity they decided to write a new software from scratch, though, considering HA is such a good platform for it already - especially considering it has support for so many other widgets one would want to also display, aside of the compass/widget.

[@BoatingwiththeBaileys]

@wrobelda genuine question- what do you think it's missing? What haven't you been able to display that you've wanted to?

[@wrobelda]

@@BoatingwiththeBaileys I haven’t used it yet, actually, but am a software engineer very familiar with Home Assistant and it’s an obvious choice for me for such use cases. HA is a mature, very stable project, so I’d rather use that than something that is relatively new. Mind that HA has tons of integrations already, for example Victron is very well integrated. There are sailors who use HA already for that purpose and who contribute widgets specifically designed for that use case - Google Smart Boat Innovations for example, who also have their own YT channel. In another example, you’re somewhat hacky use of ESP32 for water sensors is imho much riskier solution than using off the shelf, water resistant, reliable, cheap Zigbee sensors, which can be easily integrated into HA and which easily be multiplicated to provide the needed redundancy in such a crucial role. A lot of the stuff has already been polished to perfection in home automation realm and reinventing the wheel seems like wasted effort to me. Also, seeing your struggles with C++ ESP32 and alert messages, while ESPHome exists, makes me think that there’s whole new world for you to explore, one that is equally as rewarding but more reliable/predictable and with immense community support. I encourage you to look up sample HA dashboards to realize what kind of potential we’re talking here. Note that SignalK is still used in this scenario for NMEA, you just do most of the automation integration in Home Assistant and use its dashboard. It does come installed in Open Marine distribution, too, as far as I know. And to answer your actual question: one thing I would definitely want in that dashboard would be the camera views.

[@wrobelda]

@@BoatingwiththeBaileys Looks like my elaborate comment war removed, or I don't see it. In any case, I recommend checking out "Smart Boat Innovations", both the website and their YT channel, as they use HA for dashboard. I also mentioned that I think you'd be better off using regular, off-the shelf Zigbee water sensors, are they are more reliable, cheap and wireless/waterproof, instead of hacked sensors attached to ESP32. And even if you insist on ESP32, the SensESP still comes off as repetitive effort, considering that ESPHome is such a mature platform that seems perfect for the use cases, and way easier to use. SignalK is still good software for interfacing NMEA, but I would leave all the automation and dashboarding to HA, which can interface with SignalK. And one thing I would definitely want on my dashboard is camera views. See the Smart Boat Innovation for their examples.

[@joelhenry000]

Hi, question... is there a way to save the freeboard charts on signalk to the raspberry pi so we can access them when offline?

[@BoatingwiththeBaileys]

Freeboard can load charts from files - check here for the supported format. github.com/SignalK/freeboard-sk you will need to create these and there was a video online about using several pieces of software to do it. If you can find charts for your area in that format they will work. They don’t support O-charts unfortunately

[@joelhenry000]

@@BoatingwiththeBaileys ok thanks, i was was more getting at if it was possible to download the openseamap charts they use as standard. cant find any videos showing how to do that.

[@BoatingwiththeBaileys]

@@joelhenry000 - Not that i'm aware of, its a case of building each chart tile yourself or finding a resource where that's already been done. This is the video I was talking about kzbin.info/www/bejne/kJ6vnmR3aa6Bh6ssi=EnEO2luZmuLlEO9J - There is also a SK Chart plug-in which then provides a path to the charts. This could be a way to do it, but its not something I've tried.

[@pietromaurizio8990]

hi I have two questions for you: 1) I was able to install KIP 2.4.1 on my backup RPI, but not on the onboard RPI. What is the installation procedure? 2) How did you create the graph at the bottom right?

[@BoatingwiththeBaileys]

Hi, to install KIP your pi must be connected to the internet, login and then head over to the App Store. If you can’t see it, make sure the search box is set to all not just new however it should show up. Also check which version of SignalK you are using. They also might need an update. To create the graph it uses historic data. Go to settings, historic data and pick a key. Tell it how many samples and for how long and then go to the panel and select the historic widget. You can then pick the graph you just made.

[@pietromaurizio8990]

Hi, I updated SignalK to version 2.4.1, then I launched the 2.5.0 upgrade from @mxtommy/kip from the Appstore, however the upgrade is always aborted (status=Failed). same result with the other available upgrades. where am I wrong?

[@BoatingwiththeBaileys]

@pietromaurizio8990 there is a directory you can try to delete if this happens, I think it’s in the home/.signalK/plugins it should have a name of Kip or mxtommy for the folder, try deleting that and try again. Do a backup first and also check the directory (I’m away from my pi at the moment)

[@BoatingwiththeBaileys]

Did you get this working?

[@pietromaurizio8990]

no I can't find the directory and therefore I can't delete the plugins. I can't install kip 2.5.0 and also other upgrades available on the signalk appstore. I remind you that I updated Signalk to version 2.4.1

[@SVRockChalk]

Have done anything on connecting YDNR-02 to SignalK?

[@BoatingwiththeBaileys]

Hi, no I haven’t as my Pi basically does the same thing. It sits on the NMEA network and they shares that data via WiFi to my phone. I can then use Navionics with AIS & Depth, and other apps like AV nav and KIP to see all that boat data from my phone. My data comes in now via a MacArthur Hat but you could use that device to do the same thing if you already have one.

[@SVRockChalk]

What do you do about missing widgets?

[@BoatingwiththeBaileys]

Hi, in terms of changing the layout?

[@SVRockChalk]

@@BoatingwiththeBaileys No. Like i can not add data for tanks and shunts. They are available in the data dop down. Seems like some widgets ae missing. i can see date in date explorer.

[@BoatingwiththeBaileys]

Can you add them just using the number widget and get a value?

[@aywwa]

In my 2.41 adding the date and time via the path navigation.dateTime does not update, remaining static from the time and date that I start Kip. I only have one source.

[@BoatingwiththeBaileys]

Hi, Do you see the date and time update correctly in the SignalK data browser?

[@aywwa]

yes.

[@BoatingwiththeBaileys]

Only affecting this tile, others on that page update? Is the source default? Have you changed TTL or anything else from the defaults?

[@aywwa]

⁠it is only the Kip date time that does not update.everything else is fine. It updates normally everywhere else, eg instrument panel, data browser. If it works ok for you then the only difference would be the Kip time zone option, mine being very different, so I will play with that. Having the date time displayed is not important to me anyhow. Thanks.

[@SVRockChalk]

Anyone have a ready to upload for a Beat 60 motor, or knew wear to get one? I’m not code savvy, thx.

[@BoatingwiththeBaileys]

Hi, can you see any of this data on your boat network already? KIP doesn’t need code by the way, it’s all driven from the display you see, just click to get started.