Sail76

Introduction

Hive76 is attempting to build a autonomous sailboat capable of traveling long distances (Trans-atlantic) completed under it's own guidance and power. Building it will be in 3 phases:

• Phase A

Pure and simple R/C sailboat, building a hull, sails and rigging, and appropriately actuating the sail and rudder. Determining hull changes to be made, sealing methods, and "sailability"

• Phase B

Auto-Sail. Implement GPS/Compass and wind-direction indicator. Develop algorithm to have boat sail with only rudder control. Sail should respond to whatever direction boat is headed, and rudder should not allow direct upwind sailing, unless with sufficient boat speed, and will auto-tack the boat to prevent being "in irons"

• Phase C

Autonomous sailing. Boat will establish waypoints, determine best path to waypoints, avoiding "hot areas" (shipping lates) and should take current and leeway vectors into account when picking a course.

Inspiration

After researching RC Sailboats, Hive76 decided to create it's own version. A few months of doodling with Hull design and building foot-long mock-ups, and generally making a mess. After seeing Scout, The transatlantic electric boat several times due to poor design, cost, or algorithmic issues, Hive76 thought they could do better.

Design

Hull Design was laid out in Free!Ship. http://i.imgur.com/RM225gah.png http://i.imgur.com/1hNhR5Lh.png and is being carved out of pine by [User:KyleYankan] to be overlaid with Fiberglass, and sealed with neoprene and Plexiglass.