[TG] [TG11] Autorouting problems with Axiom Pro

[merlin956]

Hi,
I haven't been able to get the autorouting to work reliably on my Axiom Pro. Most of the time it just tells me that it can't create a safe route with the current settings. My Navionics app CAN create a safe route between the same points using the same boat settings.
I tried reducing the safe depth on the Axiom but it still failed to create a safe route.
Running the latest version of Lighthouse on the Axiom and the latest Navionics app on my android devices.

[Tom - Raymarine - Moderator]

Hello merlin956,

Can you let us know the start-finish points you're using, and perhaps take/share a clear video showing the process so that we can attempt to replicate? Can you also share a photo of the contents of your Settings > Boat Details page, and also let us know what version of software you see in Settings > Getting Started?

Thanks,
Tom

[merlin956]

I got out on the water and tried to create another autoroute that I could follow. I made a video of the process but at 190Mb it seems that it is too big to attach.

Same problem. Even though I reduced the safe depth down to 1 ft in my settings it still told me it couldn't create a safe route and the Follow button was greyed out so I couldn't elect to follow it anyway.

I was in 10.8 ft of water when I created the route and the endpoint would have been more than 14 ft given the tide at the time. With a tide drop of 3.5 ft to low (at the time I created the route) that still made the minimum depths over 6 feet along the entire route at low tide. I have travelled this area extensively for nearly 50 years and there is nowhere that the water depth would have been anywhere near the minimum safe depth along the entire route.

The start point used was Australia, Moreton Bay Brisbane. Horseshoe Bay on Peel Island to near Cleveland point.
:
27⁰ 30.332’S 153⁰ 21.409’E
and the ending point was:
27⁰ 29.804’S 153⁰ 16.668’E

[merlin956]

Just wondering if there has been any progress on this?

[Tom - Raymarine - Moderator]

Hello merlin956,

Sorry for the delay replying. I've been unable to replicate the same problem. If you haven't done so since noticing this problem I think it would be worth updating your Navionics chart, and also getting the latest v3.11.42 software into your Axiom Pro.

If the problem still remains, perhaps you can post the video to a file-sharing service such as Box.com, Google Drive, iCloud or similar and send us a link?

Regards,
Tom

[merlin956]

I hope to get out on the water tomorrow but in the mean time here is a link to the video https://drive.google.com/open?id=1vlkpey...5LKJ7y7Npb on google drive.

[merlin956]

I tried again today. I didn't have much time but I attempted 2 autoroutes. Both were absolutely safe. The first told me it wasn't safe but allowed me to select follow anyway, the second told me it wasn't safe and wouldn't allow me to follow it. I didn't have a video camera but the procedure I followed was the same as in the previous video.

[Tom - Raymarine - Moderator]

Hello merlin956,

Thanks for the video. There is a clue in the exclamation-mark warning symbol that the chartplotter's used for the first waypoint in the route - this shows that there's a caution area in this route leg and indicates the part of the route that's causing the problem. If I try to create the same route on the Navionics online chart viewer it provides a warning on that leg 'Close to shallow water', and I think that the MFD is preventing the completion of the auto-route for the same reason. It may be that the MFD's software has a slightly more cautious proximity threshold than the Navionics online chart viewer (both use Navionics' own software libraries, but probably not the exact same version), or perhaps with normal swinging at anchor and random GPS position drift, at the time when you created the Autoroute on the MFD perhaps your GPS position had your vessel slightly closer to the shallows than the lat/lons you've listed, but either way, in that video I'm pretty sure that's the cause of the problem in that particular instance.

The software errs on the side of caution around shallows because charting is not perfect - especially in Moreton Bay - and neither is GPS position fix accuracy and we don't want to give false confidence about the safety of a particular course.

Regards,
Tom

[merlin956]

That is about the answer I expected if I wasn't doing anything wrong. I agree that a generated track should not be relied on in the absence of local knowledge. Of all the autoroutes I tried before I started this thread I estimate less than 10% were successful and I know every single one was safe. With local knowledge I think I should have the ability to override the warning and accept the route, otherwise, a 10% success rate doesn't make it a very useful feature. Perhaps you could pass along the suggestion that the user should be given a means of taking responsibility for their own decision to follow a route regardless.

[Tom - Raymarine - Moderator]

Hello merlin956,

Are you frequently doing the same sort of operation, starting an Auto-route when anchored close to shallows? If not, perhaps there's another cause going on which I would be happy to look into. Auto-routing seems to work ok for most people.

Regarding users taking responsibility for their own decisions, I would have no idea of how many people I've spoken to over the years who've happily been doing worryingly hazardous things with their boats and electronics for me to be comfortable arguing that we remove what safeguards we do have in there. Some examples:

• totally relying on charted depths and GPS position or a depth sounder when running at high speeds in very shallow water
• leaving the helm in the charge of an autopilot alone when in a busy waterway - and requesting that our pilot do 'waypoint advance' to follow a channel automatically, without checking that there's not another boat in the way
• attempting to cross oceans solo with a single, 15-year old, under-sized autopilot and no backup
  

...

Regards,
Tom