by John C Payne
Volvo Penta unveils its new Glass Cockpit System, which provides centralized control and monitoring of the boat’s engines and drives, integrated with navigation, steering and alarm systems. The new Volvo Penta Glass Cockpit System is an all-integrated control and monitoring system that gathers all driver information – including warnings and alarms – and displays it on one or more, high-tech displays. It enables a common, ergonomic design – and interface – for the whole dashboard, with push-buttons on the controls and touch-buttons on the screens.
The displays are easy and intuitive to handle, with touch and pinch-to-zoom functionality. The driver decides what functions should be displayed on the screens and how they should be distributed. Depending on boat type and size, one or more displays can be mounted on the dashboard. The screens are available in different sizes from 8 to 19”. The Glass Cockpit System is fully integrated with the Volvo Penta Electronic Vessel Control (EVC). That means that all Volvo Penta easy boating options such as dynamic positioning system, interceptors and autopilot can be monitored and controlled through the displays. When the boat is powered up, all screens light up simultaneously, in a car-like manner. All settings that are made, including instrument dimming, are carried out concurrently at the helm and the fly bridge.
The unique Auto Guidance function is one example of the many extremely useful features in the Glass Cockpit System. By searching through all relevant nautical charts, it creates a route that guides the driver to avoid shallow water, buoys and other obstacles. Coupled with the Volvo Penta autopilot, Auto Guidance will not only show the way, it will actually take the boat there. The Glass Cockpit System is a result of cooperation between Volvo Penta and Garmin with Volvo Penta software and the new Garmin 8000 display series