Safety controller for marine accessory

A kicker motor safety controller for protecting an accessory kicker motor associated with a boat having a main motor, the accessory kicker motor having a propeller with a deployed configuration in water and a stowed configuration out of the water, the kicker motor safety controller comprising:

• a controller housing carriable by the boat;
• a wire harness extending from the controller housing and comprising wires configured to be coupled to one or more of:
• a power source;
• a global positioning system (GPS) or a GPS antenna;
• a trim actuator associated with the accessory kicker motor;
• an audible alarm;
• a tether kill associated with the accessory kicker motor;
• or
• a tilt switch associated with the accessory kicker motor;
• and
• one or more processors carried by the controller housing and electrically coupled to the wire harness and a memory, the one or more processors configured to:
• receive a tilt signal from the tilt switch indicating a configuration of the accessory kicker motor in the deployed configuration or the stowed configuration;
• receive a velocity or movement signal from the GPS or the GPS antenna;
• determine when the accessory kicker motor is in the deployed configuration based on the tilt signal;
• determine when the velocity or movement signal exceeds a threshold;
• send a withdrawal signal to the trim actuator, based on a determination of the accessory kicker motor in the deployed configuration and a determination of the velocity or movement signal above the threshold, to enable the trim actuator to trim the accessory kicker motor from the deployed configuration to the stowed configuration;
• send a kill signal to the tether kill, based on a determination of the accessory kicker motor in the deployed configuration and a determination of the velocity or movement signal above the threshold, to enable the tether kill to kill the accessory kicker motor;
• and
• send an alarm signal to the audible alarm, based on a determination of the accessory kicker motor in the deployed configuration and a determination of the velocity or movement signal above the threshold, to enable the audible alarm to emit an audible alarm.

A control system for protecting an accessory kicker motor associated with a boat having a main motor, the accessory kicker motor having a propeller with a deployed configuration in water and a stowed configuration out of the water, the control system comprising:

• a kicker motor safety controller, comprising:
• controller housing carriable by the boat;
• a wire harness extending from the controller housing and comprising wires configured to be coupled to one or more of:
• a power source;
• a global positioning system (GPS) or a GPS antenna;
• a trim actuator associated with the accessory kicker motor;
• an audible alarm;
• a tether kill associated with the accessory kicker motor;
• or
• a tilt switch associated with the accessory kicker motor;
• and
• one or more processors electrically coupled to the wire harness and a memory, the one or more processors configured to:
• receive a tilt signal from the tilt switch indicating a configuration of the accessory kicker motor in the deployed configuration or the stowed configuration;
• receive a velocity or movement signal from the GPS or the GPS antenna;
• determine when the accessory kicker motor is in the deployed configuration based on the tilt signal;
• determine when the velocity or movement signal exceeds a threshold;
• send a withdrawal signal to the trim actuator, based on a determination of the accessory kicker motor in the deployed configuration and a determination of the velocity or movement signal above the threshold, to enable the trim actuator to trim the accessory kicker motor from the deployed configuration to the stowed configuration;
• send a kill signal to the tether kill, based on a determination of the accessory kicker motor in the deployed configuration and a determination of the velocity or movement signal above the threshold, to enable the tether kill to kill the accessory kicker motor;
• and
• send an alarm signal to the audible alarm, based on a determination of the accessory kicker motor in the deployed configuration and a determination of the velocity or movement signal above the threshold, to enable the audible alarm to emit an audible alarm;
• a kicker accelerator controller configured to be coupled to an accelerator of the accessory kicker motor remote from the kicker motor safety controller, the kicker accelerator controller comprising:
• a servo motor configured to be coupled to the accelerator of the accessory kicker motor to enable one or more of acceleration, deceleration, maximum acceleration or idle of the accessory kicker motor;
• and
• a servo antenna electrically coupled to the servo motor and capable of receiving wireless signals to enable operation of the servo motor;
• and
• a cellular phone or a remote control, comprising:
• a housing;
• a power source carried by the housing;
• a remote antenna carried by the housing;
• one or more buttons carried by the housing or displayed on a display with a graphical user interface (GUI);
• and
• one or more processors carried by the housing and coupled to the power source and the remote antenna, the one or more processors configured to receive a button signal from the one or more buttons and encode a wireless signal based on the button signal for transmission by the remote antenna to a controller antenna to enable one or more control functions of the kicker motor safety controller or the servo antenna to enable one or more servo functions of the kicker accelerator controller;
• wherein the one or more buttons comprise one or more of:
• a stow/trim kicker motor button to enable the kicker motor safety controller to send a signal to the trim actuator, based on the stow/trim kicker motor button, to enable the trim actuator to trim the accessory kicker motor from the deployed configuration to the stowed configuration;
• a maximum accelerate button to enable the kicker accelerator controller to send a signal to the servo motor, based on the maximum accelerate button, to enable the servo motor to accelerate the accessory kicker motor a maximum amount;
• an accelerate button to enable the kicker accelerator controller to send a signal to the servo motor, based on the accelerate button, to enable the servo motor to accelerate the accessory kicker motor an incremental amount;
• a decelerate button to enable the kicker accelerator controller to send a signal to the servo motor, based on the decelerate button, to enable the servo motor to decelerate the accessory kicker motor an incremental amount;
• an idle speed button to enable the kicker accelerator controller to send a signal to the servo motor, based on the idle speed button, to enable the servo motor to idle the accessory kicker motor an incremental amount;
• and
• an automatic/manual selection button to enable the kicker motor safety controller to send a signal to the servo motor, based on the automatic/manual selection button, to enable the servo motor to accelerate and decelerate the accessory kicker motor based on manual input or an automatic setting.