After some technical delays the Naval/Mechanical side of the MUN SailBOT team has hit the ground running. In the past month or so the team has laser cut wood for the hull model, assembled the mold, and built the deck. With the addition of the hull currently being built and the rudder under construction, our team is well on our way and picking up steam.
The pond is starting to thaw out and we are hoping to be able to do some sailing testing soon. Keep an eye out for our boat on the pond behind the engineering building near the end of May; we'll be the ones frantically paddling around in a blow up dinghy. If you're interested in giving us a hand with the project feel free to shoot us an email at munsailbot@gmail.com. As usual everyone is welcome!
It's the beginning of the school year and per usual we are doing some recruiting for our team! Tomorrow, September 20th, we will be having a booth open at the Marine Institute on Ridge Road from 12-2 in the main lobby. Come on down and learn more about our boat and what we do as a team. If you are unable to make it but are still interested in joining the MUN SailBOT team, feel free to contact us at munsailbot@gmail.com or come to one of our meetings as posted on our Facebook page. Everyone is welcome.
MUN SailBOT Team Presenting at the Engineering Open House
MUN SailBOT team arrived in Kingston on Saturday evening. The next day we worked on getting the systems ready for the competition on Monday. With new electronics from QKits electronics in Kingston the boat was ready to do some testing on the water.
The Team arriving at Kingston Yacht Club for the First Time
On the first day of the competition sailing was challenging since the wind was at an impressive speed of 25 knots! The events were called off until 7 pm in hopes that the wind would die down, but not before we bent the boom mount. The rest of the day was spent getting the boat ready for the heavy winds. When we finally hit the water at 7 pm, it was still very windy and we lost our long antenna out on the water. While the boat was competing it was rocking a lot from the high winds and waves, and we took on some water. We managed to get the boat back into sailing condition, sealing the leaks until late into the night.
Jaylan with Sea++ on the dock
On Tuesday we had a bit more luck, with the wind not blowing quite as strong. We competed in the station keeping event, where Sea++ had to stay within a boundary box for five minutes autonomously and then leave as close to the five minute mark as possible. We improved on our results from the day before, getting 8.1/10 points for our run right after competition was postponed due to rain.
All in all there have been some challenges so far, but we are adapting to them and getting the boat back on the water quickly.
Tonight the team is leaving for Kingston, Ontario! We finished painting the boat this morning and are preparing for our flights. We tested for the last time yesterday and the autonomous code is working very well. As you can see in the video below it was working almost a little too well and we were having some trouble keeping up with Sea++ on the water.
On Sunday the team was able to test our boat Sea++ for the first time this year! The competition is approaching fast and we are in our last stages of preparing. A huge thank-you to United Sail Works for getting our sail done so quickly, we wouldn't have been able to test without it. We'll be back out testing soon, if you want to come watch follow our facebook page for updates or contact us at munsailbot@gmail.com.
Jeffrey and Evgueni in the Chase Boat following Sea++
It’s the beginning of another year for MUN
SailBOT and construction is well on the way. With new electronics from the full
overhaul from last year, the fall semester was dedicated to mapping the new
system as well as planning the improvements to be made. On the coding front,
the team has been very busy updating and creating code for the new competition
this June. With the addition of a machine vision event, the team has been
challenged to create a large section of brand new code that with the use of a
camera should help us sail to a buoy in a large body of water. The Mechanical/Naval
team has started overhauling the hull, building the rudders, and designing a new
rigging, sail and mounting system for the new electronics. It will be a busy
year for MUN SailBOT with major overhauls happening in every sector! We are
hoping to repeat our successes from last year and hold onto the International
Robotics Sailing Regatta title. If you are interested in working with the team,
or supporting us with a donation, the MUN SailBOT Team can be contacted at
munsailbot@gmail.com.
MUN SailBOT Team at the 2015 IRSR Award Ceremony
Tuesday, 9 June 2015
The Petunia II making the winning lap in the long distance race:
