Reliable, responsive, and predictable are words that are synonymous with a good autopilot unit. Ever since Wood Freeman patented his small vessel autopilot system in 1935, the autopilot has been charged with controlling the rudder(s) of a vessel to maintain a selected heading.

Until a few years ago, most pilots were designed following the same basic layout: control head, compass, central processing unit (CPU), rudder-drive motor, and rudder feedback unit. A specialized compass would send the vessel’s current heading information to a CPU, where it would be compared to the selected heading from the pilot’s control head. If the CPU determined that the vessel was off course, it would send…