Rivers & Seas Guide

Connect your autopilot to Rivers & Seas

Can you already see your boat data from Signal K in Rivers & Seas? Then only the autopilot connection is missing. With a supported system, all you usually need is a plugin, the correct selection, and an NMEA connection that carries data in both directions.

Apple Watch running Rivers & Seas with the autopilot active at the helm of a motorboat.
Once Signal K and the autopilot can communicate, the Apple Watch becomes a clear and convenient remote at your wrist.

What else you need

The basic connection between Rivers & Seas and Signal K must already be working. If your boat does not yet appear in Rivers & Seas, set up Signal K first.

You then need three things: the “Signal K autopilot” plugin, an autopilot supported by the plugin, and a connection to the boat network that can send control commands as well as receive data.

Set up Signal K on board The prerequisite: display your boat data in Rivers & Seas

Install the autopilot plugin

  1. Open the administration page of your Signal K server in a browser.
  2. Open the Appstore and search for “Signal K autopilot”.
  3. Install the plugin, then open its settings.
  4. Select your autopilot type. With NMEA 2000, the plugin can often detect the device address automatically. If it does not, you can enter the address in the plugin settings.
  5. Save the settings and restart Signal K if the administration page asks you to.

The plugin makes autopilot functions available to other Signal K apps. Rivers & Seas can use it to control Auto, Standby, and—where supported by the selected autopilot—the target course.

Signal K autopilot Official repository, current notes, and supported devices

The NMEA connection must be able to transmit

Seeing autopilot data in Signal K is not enough to make the pilot controllable. The connection to the NMEA 2000 or SeaTalk network must be bidirectional: it must receive information and send commands back to the autopilot.

In Signal K, check that the NMEA 2000 connection is active and able to transmit. A read-only connection can display instrument data, but it cannot control the autopilot.1

Cerbo GX with VE.Can

If Signal K runs on your Cerbo GX, connect one of its VE.Can ports to the NMEA 2000 network using Victron’s “VE.Can to NMEA 2000 Micro-C male cable”. Then check in Signal K that this connection is active and able to transmit. The autopilot plugin can pass its commands through the Cerbo GX to the autopilot. You do not need an additional USB adapter.

Raspberry Pi with Actisense

If Signal K runs on a Raspberry Pi, an Actisense NGT-1 or NGX-1 connects the Pi to the NMEA 2000 network. The autopilot plugin uses this same connection to receive and transmit. Check in Signal K that it supports outgoing messages. If the Actisense restricts outgoing messages, that permission must also be checked in its configuration.

Connect a Cerbo GX to NMEA 2000 Victron’s guide to the connection and settings VE.Can to NMEA 2000 Micro-C male cable The matching connection cable from Victron

Which autopilots are supported

Current support varies by manufacturer and connection. Always check the latest plugin documentation before changing your onboard system.2

Raymarine over NMEA 2000

Supported directly. This covers compatible Raymarine systems on an NMEA 2000 or SeaTalk-ng network.

Raymarine over SeaTalk 1

Supported, but requires a bidirectional converter that translates SeaTalk datagrams into NMEA 0183 sentences and back again.

Simrad over NMEA 2000

So far tested with a NAC-3 and, according to the plugin documentation, requires Signal K Server 2.17.x. The plugin can currently increase or decrease the target course, but it cannot set an arbitrary target heading or wind angle directly.

For SeaTalk 1, the plugin lists suitable converters from Digital Yacht, Shipmodul, and gadgetPool. For route and wind steering, the documentation also recommends “Convert Signal K to NMEA0183” with APB and MWV respectively.

Allow Rivers & Seas to control the pilot

  1. Switch on the autopilot and chartplotter.
  2. Connect the iPhone to the onboard Wi-Fi and open Rivers & Seas. Once the app detects the autopilot, the relevant guide appears.
  3. Try to engage the autopilot once in Rivers & Seas. It will not engage yet, but this sends an access request to Signal K.
  4. Open Access Requests in the Signal K administration.
  5. Approve the requested write access for Rivers & Seas. You can then return to the app and engage the autopilot.

Test first, then get underway

  1. First check that Signal K displays the autopilot state and target course.
  2. Use the usual pilot instrument to switch between Auto and Standby. The state should shortly appear in Signal K and Rivers & Seas as well.
  3. Under safe conditions, try a small course change from Rivers & Seas.
  4. Immediately check that the autopilot confirms the new course and the boat responds as expected.
Control the autopilot with Rivers & Seas The guide for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch

Other autopilots and the SeaRebbel MobilePilot

An NMEA connection alone does not mean that Signal K can control an autopilot. The Signal K plugin needs a suitable translation between its commands and each manufacturer’s protocol.

For the SeaRebbel MobilePilot, the hardware path is conceivable: Rivers & Seas on iPhone › Wi-Fi › Signal K on a Raspberry Pi or Cerbo GX › Signal K autopilot plugin › bidirectional NMEA 2000 adapter › NMEA 2000 network › an Actisense W2K-1 prepared for MobilePilot › MobilePilot.

SeaRebbel now documents an NMEA 2000 connection through a specially configured Actisense W2K-1. However, the Signal K autopilot plugin does not currently include MobilePilot support, so this chain cannot yet be put into service as a ready-made solution.3

To make it work, the Signal K community or the manufacturer would need to add a suitable driver and test it with real hardware. The best place to start is a request in the GitHub project or a conversation with the Signal K community.

SeaRebbel MobilePilot Manufacturer information and NMEA 2000 guidance Request support Open a new topic in the Signal K autopilot project Signal K community on Discord Discuss additional autopilots with users and developers