OpenCPN is a Chart Plotter/Navigator...
Intended for use in navigation of vessels of all types and sizes using public domain GIS data and positioning information.
It is a GUI application. It runs on a computer desktop display, most often at the helm station of a vessel underway, although it may be used offline as a route planning tool.
It provides the user with a GUI display showing the vessels current position, speed and course superimposed upon accurate navigational chart images. Tide and current predictions may be displayed as desired. Information received by standard radio links describing the position and intent of other vessels is also shown selectively. As the host vessel moves, new charts are selected and displayed at user specified resolution and detail. Further, the user may enter routes and waypoints allowing interface to an external autopilot for precise course following when desired.
OpenCPN is cross-platform. Developed in C++, using the wxWidgets toolkit, it has been ported to Linux, W98, and Windows XP and Mac OSX.
OpenCPN uses public domain chart data, provided by the US government by download from the internet. This is the same data commonly used by existing commercial products of this sort.
OpenCPN accepts positioning input from GPS receivers directly. It also supports TCP/IP networked positioning input as a client to the GPSD daemon, often used on *nix systems.
OpenCPN supports input from AIS (Automated Identification System) receivers, providing additional safety features to those vessels so equipped.
OpenCPN is unique relative to existing commercial products in the following ways:
1. Open Source (GPL), of course.
2. Cross platform, providing consistent user experience for various available platforms. Especially, few, if any equivalent applications are otherwise available for Linux/Unix systems.
3. OpenCPN has a concise feature set, producing small code size and acceptable performance on minimal hardware resources.
4. OpenCPN supports GPSD, an Open Source standard for communicating GPS positioning information over TCP/IP networks.. No other product intended for at-helm vessel navigation is known to do so.
5. OpenCPN supports Vector format charts, in what is known as the S57ENC format. No other Open Source GUI application is known to do so.
6. OpenCPN supports AIS data streams. Again, no other Open Source GUI application is known to do so.
OpenCPN current status is:
1. Beta release state. Feature set is consistent and usable.
2. Ported to W32 , Linux (X11 and GTK) and Mac OSX
3. In daily use aboard the author's personal cruising yacht for years.
4. Reasonably stable.
5. Currently hosted on Sourceforge.org.
OpenCPN implementation details:
1. Linux: GNU tool chain, wxWidgets toolkit. Standard (i.e.
./configure..build) installation method.
2. W32: Commercial make/C++ toolset.
3. Mac OSX: XCode Project Files and GNU tool chain building method.
