See full version: Technical Resources
Spot Lock: Virtually anchor your boat in place by pressing a button on your remote or foot pedal. The motor will automatically engage to keep you within a few feet of that position at all times, compensating for any wind and/or current. Store up to 16 different spot lock positions.
AutoPilot: A cruise control feature that allows you to automatically travel on a compass heading or fixed navigational course.
CoPilot and Cruise Control
The Minn Kota i-Pilot and i-Pilot link are available on several of the company’s freshwater motors as well as the saltwater Riptide motors. Below, we have listed all of the Minn Kota trolling motor lines that come with the i-Pilot or i-Pilot link.
All i-Pilot and i-Pilot link trolling motors also have a cruise control function to maintain speed on a specific heading. The speed can be adjusted by 0.1MPH increments with a single push of a button. Cruise control can be used in conjunction with several other i-Pilot features such as i-Tracks (both recording and playback), Autopilot, and Advanced Autopilot. It is also important that you note the speed you have set as well as the environmental conditions when recording a track so that you can adjust settings during playback to get the most accurate results. here
The control buttons below the screen are very self-intuitive and the user’s manual that comes with the remote outlines everything in a very detailed manner. The layout of the controls is organized into four different categories including manual controls, tracks controls, cruise/autopilot controls, and spot lock controls. more
The home screen gives you full view of all motor functions currently in use as well as battery power, speed, and GPS signal strength among other things. more
Perhaps the most used feature and the most marketed feature of the i-Pilot GPS system is Spot-Lock. Spot-Lock is the GPS anchoring feature on i-Pilot that keeps your vessel located within a set of GPS points that forms a circle. When the GPS recognizes that the boat is within this set of points the motor is turned off. You can store up to six individual Spot-Lock locations on your device and reactivate these spots when you are within a quarter mile distance from the area with the Go-TO feature. Also, within the Spot-Lock function is Jog. Jog allows you to adjust the positioning of the boat relative the Spot-Lock coordinated by five feet in any direction. This is a cool feature that is useful in a lot of fishing situations and allows quick movement without having to manually adjust the positioning of the boat. here
In general, the i-Pilot system is one of the most accurate GPS control systems available to the public. With that, the accuracy is going to depend on a lot of other outside factors as well. We don’t want you to think that it’s going to be dead on every time you head out onto the water because there are going to be situations where you have to fight it more. [links]
The i-Pilot is capable of storing a total of six Spot-Lock and six Record A Track locations compared to three locations each on the original version.
The following are the key features of i-Pilot: more
Cruise Control maintains real-time on-the-water boat speed in one-tenth mile-per-hour increments. This precise speed control allows the angler to dial in bait presentations in trolling applications. here
CoPilot™ is Minn Kota's wireless trolling motor control system and is integrated into the i-Pilot remote control. Anglers can control speed and steering from anywhere in the boat.
Please see our Shaft Length Guide and pay very close attention to your measurements. If in doubt, go long!
We strongly advise against it because you will immediately void your warranty. Saltwater is highly corrosive and you run a serious risk of destroying your motor. [links]
Please see our Thrust Guide. It can also be helpful to Google the make and model of your boat along with the word “trolling motor” to see what other fishermen have posted in the forums about their choices and experiences.