Crunch Time

We're getting close to our in water deadline of April 28th and here is another update.  Our motors have finally arrived after bouncing around Florida, Texas, Quebec, Texas again, Nova Scotia and finally to us!

Motors Arrive

They are shiny aren't they.  They will go into our new actuator design which is completely waterproof, capable of up to 3 Nm and around 60 RPM.  Our test actuator has just finished being assembled and tested and the rest are being machined right now by Engineering Techinical Services, which has generously donated the machining time.  Thanks Tech Services!

In other news, the spreaders, shrouds and other rigging are nearing completion.  All of the pieces being attached to the mast this year are being placed on sleeves which fit over the mast.  This allows us to remove them for shipping, replace them if needed and keeps the structural aspects in tact.  The last pieces are being bagged right now.

Spreaders

Yes, that is a garbage bag and no that is not what we have been bagging with.  We use much more sophisticated milk bags from Tim Hortons. EconoBag from and mastic tape helps too.

Thuggin

Actuator test

Development of new actuators is underway. An implementation of our shaft using aluminum resulted in some shearing and sad team members. So we remade it with stainless steel and new grub screws. Here's a test of the build that used a rapid-prototyped casing and a shaft which did not fail:

(Note: Musical tastes are those of the fabrication team and are not necessarily those expressed or endorsed by this blog.)