Hull and Rig Design:The hull is a foam kid's surfboard with 2 layers of
fiberglass on top for durability. Enclosures and solar panels are mounted onto surfboard
via aluminum rails. The mast is 1" aluminum tube connected to a 7/8" aluminum tube frame
with boom and gaff. The sail is 4oz. dacron with brass grommets in the corners for
attaching to the frame.
Power source: 2x LiPo batteries each with 4400 mAh capacity at 3.7 V. 2x 2
Wpeak 6 V solar panels.
Actuators: The mast is turned by a worm-gear drive brushed DC motor
connected via a chain drive. No rudder.
Sensors: GPS, temperature/humidity sensors in the main enclosure
Communications: Iridium Rockblock modem
Computers: Arduino Mega
Other Interesting Things: The boat has no rudder and relies on sail/keel
balance for steerage. When heeling, it can sail about 120 degrees off the wind in either
direction. It cannot go upwind. It has routines for zig-zagging downwind when that is
desired. Because of this, the computer enters sleep mode and the whole system uses very
little power in between logging events.
