Thruster Programmability....

[tdc_worm]

For any of you chaps that want to date yourself like me, and grew up driving towboats, you remember a life without thrusters (been on inboards for close to 40 years now). We all learned how to pivot a boat in place with a hard lock on the steering wheel in one direction, and then goosing the throttle in forward and reverse in succession. Fast forward to now, and the same technique is negated by the auto thruster. It simply takes WAAAAAYYYYY too long to flip the steering wheel from one hard lock to the other to trigger the auto thruster to thrust to the opposite side.

I am on my second year of my P25, I can assure you that I am a worse driver with the thruster on, than I am with the thruster off. I cannot make quick maneuvers as the thruster counters what I am wanting to do when in reverse. It's particularly harrowing when loading the boat on the trailer in rough water, placing it in slip on rough water, maneuvering next to a downed rider, the list goes on.

A simple solution would be to allow the end user the programmability of which direction the thruster moves when in reverse. Please and thank you, Nautique!

[Cpan13]

I only use mine in manual mode.

[tdc_worm]

I only use mine in manual mode.

I have yet to figure out how to work the throttle and the manual thruster at the same time, haha.

Centurion has an up/down toggle on the throttle lever that allows for it. MC has a twist knob on the top of the throttle lever that allows for it

[hal2814]

The throttle stays where you put it. It’s not hard to take your hand off for a second to get the thrust you need. I’m in the manual camp, too. In open water the thruster really doesn’t make things much better. In tight quarters I just want little nudges here and there or the occasional 90/180 degree spin while being mostly still.

I will say the thruster controls on the throttle that some manufacturers have is very nice and more intuitive than Nautique’s setup.

[Sailfun]

6000 Lb inboards don’t maneuver like the 2000 lb boats we grew up with. I find the best way to dock the G23 is manual mode.

[tdc_worm]

The throttle stays where you put it. It's not hard to take your hand off for a second to get the thrust you need.

Yeah....not what I am asking for. But thanks for pointing out that the throttle stays where you put it...newsflash to me, haha! I actually prefer to not remove my hand from an engaged throttle in tight spaces. To each their own.

It's also not that hard to write a bit of code that would allow the end user to select which mode works best for them...

We are def in agreement that a manual mode that doesn't require your hand to be removed from an engaged throttle is more intuitive.

[tdc_worm]

6000 Lb inboards don’t maneuver like the 2000 lb boats we grew up with. I find the best way to dock the G23 is manual mode.

The assumption is that I haven't owned any inboards between a 2001 and the P25.

At the end of the day, there is a non insignificant delay between setting your throttle position and using either the rotary knob or the screen in manual mode and then return to throttle to adjust it or change directions, again. Can it be done? Yes. And that is a blinding flash of the obvious. Can it be improved? The answer is also yes. Two things can be true at once. Writing code that would reduce the delay between removing my hand from the throttle to engage the thruster.

I use manual mode all the time, but never under power. That two users on this forum have acknowledged that as a technique is superior to the auto thruster exemplifies a shortcoming in the programming of the system.

[hal2814]

You may have been boating for 40 years now but I've been designing user interfaces close to 30. Part of designing user interfaces is knowing what to say no to. The part that is nice about auto-thrust is that in an ideal world you don't have to think about it. It just works. What you and others have found is that the decision making needs work. Your proposal is to ask the user what to do by locking in a direction before you even start. That sounds fine on the surface but there are a couple of challenges with that. Does it stay locked forever? If so, it's just as problematic as using the wheel sensor if your direction needs to change. If not, what determines when the lock ends?

From an interface standpoint, if you have to ask about direction anyway, a manual mode is already included and solves the use case almost as well. Alternatively, just turning the wheel also works but as you've noticed it is slower and can actively work against you until the wheel is positioned correctly. Asking the user to select a direction for the thruster to lock onto before they start maneuvering is adding an extra step to something that should be an automatic process. A manual thrust is the same thing only clearer, and easier to recover from if you get it backwards. I've offered an alternative use case that can solve the problem you're having. You can use it if you want. There are better solutions but they involve an actual hardware change which Nautique seems wholly uninterested in.

[tdc_worm]

You may have been boating for 40 years now but I've been designing user interfaces close to 30. Part of designing user interfaces is knowing what to say no to. The part that is nice about auto-thrust is that in an ideal world you don't have to think about it. It just works. What you and others have found is that the decision making needs work. Your proposal is to ask the user what to do by locking in a direction before you even start. That sounds fine on the surface but there are a couple of challenges with that. Does it stay locked forever? If so, it's just as problematic as using the wheel sensor if your direction needs to change. If not, what determines when the lock ends?

Nope. That is not what I am asking at all. What I am asking is to be able to go in to the settings and make a [semi] permanent, programmable change to the direction that thruster moves the stern of the boat when in reverse. I want it to move the boat in the opposite direction of the steering wheel indicator. It has nothing to do with the boat having to make a decision based off what its predicting I am going to do.

Right now, AutoThrust tries to make the boat behave like a car: When the steering wheel is locked in one direction, the boat will go forwards and backwards in a "C" shape, essentially going nowhere.

I am not interested in my boat behaving like a car. I wan't it to be have like a boat where I can pivot on a dime, rather than drive in a circle, without having to flip the wheel from side to side.

To do that with AutoThrust engaged, I have to completely flip the steering wheel and rudder to the opposite side. That takes a ton of time to correct while I am off power and the boat is drifting for any number of reasons.

With Autothrust disengaged, I can use the manual thrust, but then I am no longer in control of the throttle. Some may be comfortable with that, but I am routinely trailer or docking with 3-4 ft surf rollers and/or a cross wind on Lake Austin. Of course, if that functionality was on the throttle knob in addition to the rotary knob or dash, then this would be a moot point.

FWIW, I have been operating 22-25 foot surf barges that ring in over 9k lbs loaded since 2006. AutoThrust in its current configuration is GREAT for backing up to a downed surfer, which never do. The manual option is great when things are calm and I am not worried about boat drift while not under power.