Boat trim control and monitor system

A boat trim control system that includes a boat having a hull, sensor means for mounting on said hull to provide an electrical sensor signal as a function of actual boat attitude, means coupled to said sensor means and responsive to said sensor signal for determining actual boat attitude, and means coupled to said attitude-determining means for displaying said actual boat attitude to an operator, said attitude-displaying means comprising a display screen, means for displaying an icon on said screen, means coupled to said attitude-determining means for movably orienting said icon on said screen as a function of actual boat attitude, means responsive to an operator for setting said icon in a first orientation on said screen associated with a desired attitude of said boat, and means responsive to said attitude-determining means for varying orientation of said icon on said screen from said first orientation as a function of changes in boat attitude from said desired attitude.

A sensor for indicating orientation about orthogonal axes comprising:

• a housing containing a dielectric fluid and means for mounting said housing to support structure,
• four capacitance probes positioned within said housing in a planar array of diagonally spaced parallel probes, each of said probes comprising a pair of spaced fixed electrode immersed in said fluid such that level of fluid between said electrodes and electrical capacitance between said electrodes vary as a function of attitude of said housing, and
• means coupled to said probes and responsive to variations in electrical capacitance between said electrode for determining attitude of said housing and said planar array as a function of relative capacitance among said probes.