Solo sail -1
September 6, 2018 2:46 PM Subscribe
Unmanned sailboat successfully crossed the Atlantic. A battery-powered glider did it in 2009, and gliders are busy with research. No completely autonomous sailboat has made it across yet, but the 2018 contest is underway -- and there might be a winner.
And yet so many people have spent so much time and money building autonomous sailboats that didn't actually make it to the starting line.
posted by clew at 3:54 PM on September 6, 2018
posted by clew at 3:54 PM on September 6, 2018
On reading some more of TFAs I see that it's also that the main reason for trying, aiming to win the Microtransat, is complicated by very tight size restrictions.
posted by sfenders at 3:57 PM on September 6, 2018
posted by sfenders at 3:57 PM on September 6, 2018
> Year: 2014
> Boat Name: Aboat Time
> Tracked Time: 5 days, 11 hours
> End Result: Caught in a fishing net.
> Year: 2015
> Boat Name: Aboat Time
> Tracked Time: 9 days, 9 hours
> End Result: Picked up by a fishing boat after running aground.
> Year: 2016
> Boat Name: Aboat Time
> Tracked Time: 6 days, 1 hour
> End Result: Caught by a fishing boat on July 13th.
> Year: 2017
> Boat Name: Aboat Time
> Tracked Time: 2 days, 18 hours
> End Result: Caught by a fishing boat on July 25th.
posted by sfenders at 4:08 PM on September 6, 2018 [6 favorites]
> Boat Name: Aboat Time
> Tracked Time: 5 days, 11 hours
> End Result: Caught in a fishing net.
> Year: 2015
> Boat Name: Aboat Time
> Tracked Time: 9 days, 9 hours
> End Result: Picked up by a fishing boat after running aground.
> Year: 2016
> Boat Name: Aboat Time
> Tracked Time: 6 days, 1 hour
> End Result: Caught by a fishing boat on July 13th.
> Year: 2017
> Boat Name: Aboat Time
> Tracked Time: 2 days, 18 hours
> End Result: Caught by a fishing boat on July 25th.
posted by sfenders at 4:08 PM on September 6, 2018 [6 favorites]
Yummy autonomous sailboat salad sammich
posted by not_on_display at 11:21 PM on September 6, 2018
posted by not_on_display at 11:21 PM on September 6, 2018
From the autonomous sailboat link:
posted by zamboni at 4:01 AM on September 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
The sloop rig's hull is made of Kevlar-carbon hybrid cloth, and is filled with 120 D batteries that power a GPS sensor, compass and wind vane.120 D batteries sounds… wrong. Consulting the SeaLeon’s entry page:
Power source: 19x Eagle Picher PT 2300 Keeper II D size Lithium Thionyl 3.6 V 19 Ah Batteries. Arranged to give a system voltage of 14.4 V and a total capacity of 361 Ah.19 D sized batteries.
posted by zamboni at 4:01 AM on September 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
(A "D battery" is the size. D gives only dimensions, not chemistry or terminal voltage. xR20 == D, where x gives the chemistry/system.)
posted by introp at 9:14 AM on September 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by introp at 9:14 AM on September 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
How do they get 14.4 v (needing groups of 4 in series) with 19 of them?
posted by grahamparks at 10:13 AM on September 7, 2018
posted by grahamparks at 10:13 AM on September 7, 2018
Regardless of the size thing, how did 19 batteries become 120?
posted by Dysk at 10:47 AM on September 7, 2018
posted by Dysk at 10:47 AM on September 7, 2018
Well, when a mommy battery and a daddy battery love each other very very much...
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:50 AM on September 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:50 AM on September 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
To get 14.4V and 361Ah it's actually a 19 parallel, 4 series stack. Which is still only 76 batteries...
posted by TheJoven at 1:05 PM on September 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by TheJoven at 1:05 PM on September 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
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posted by sfenders at 3:51 PM on September 6, 2018 [9 favorites]