It is common for subs and boats to use echosounders as altimiters.
This information is valuable for many of our users, and seems worth having a convenient pre-made interface for, rather than needing to configure a custom VGI (which adds friction and support/documentation load).
Desired approach
There are a few main options:
Create a dedicated rangefinder mini-widget
This takes some work, but could be used for an obstacle indicator just as easily as an altitude (or depth) indicator
Could use the reported sensor orientation to set an appropriate icon automatically
Add a rangefinder option to the VGI presets
This is likely very easy to do, but is potentially a little redundant
It has similar generality to a dedicated mini-widget, but the user would need to change the icon if they want it direction dependent
Add rangefinder as a selectable depth/altitude input source, for use in the existing depth and altitude mini-widgets
This is somewhat limited in output potential, but also fits nicely into existing widgets instead of duplicating them
Data source selection is a more general thing we're working on with Cockpit, and this could join those efforts
Additional context
247 provides a longer term interface design goal for this, with integration into the main depth/altitude widget. That said, we don't have a timeline for when that will be completed, so adding a convenient mini-widget option in the interim still seems worthwhile.
Raised by G / @vshie / @dgudiel
Prerequisites
[X] I have checked to make sure that a similar request has not already been filed or fixed.
Problem to solve
It is common for subs and boats to use echosounders as altimiters.
This information is valuable for many of our users, and seems worth having a convenient pre-made interface for, rather than needing to configure a custom VGI (which adds friction and support/documentation load).
Desired approach
There are a few main options:
Additional context
247 provides a longer term interface design goal for this, with integration into the main depth/altitude widget. That said, we don't have a timeline for when that will be completed, so adding a convenient mini-widget option in the interim still seems worthwhile.
Raised by G / @vshie / @dgudiel
Prerequisites