A discussion about the Microtransat race for autonomous boats, heading west to east or east to west. Discussion includes the best routes, the race rules, the current entries, and the challenges of the race
By Dermot Tynan • March 23, 2013
Today, March 23rd, 2013, Team Joker are planning to launch their ninth boat, Snoopy Sloop. This has been an educational (and obviously fun!) experience for Robin Lovelock and his fleet of robotic warrior boats. Here in Beoga Beag land, we wish them well.
By Dermot Tynan • June 19, 2013
In order to test the spiffy, new Wind Direction Indicator mentioned in The Marvel of 3D Printing..., I assembled the mechanical components (without the potentiometers) and mounted it outside. As we live in a wind-swept area, with a high concentration of sea salt in the air, it was a useful test of how the system would perform. What I couldn't test was the effect of high temperature/humidity in a salt-water environment. To do that, I'd have to move to the Caribbean (which seems like a good idea, given the Irish summer we've had so far!).
By Dermot Tynan • August 12, 2013
It's been pretty quiet here on the blog front for a couple of months due to work and life pressures, but efforts on the hull and keel have continued unabated.
Much to report since the last post, including two transatlantic attempts (neither of which have succeeded, yet).
By Dermot Tynan • August 19, 2013
There are four power supplies on board the boat. The main voltage rail is 12 volts, give or take. The solar panels feed into that via two separate DC to DC converters. Ideally, they would provide a 13.7v "float" voltage to the main rail. That voltage is the ideal float voltage for a sealed lead-acid battery at 20 degrees C.
By Dermot Tynan • August 21, 2013
As of about an hour ago, Igor and Mother exchanged communication. It was awkward, stilted communication, like a first date, but they talked! One of the issues with the RS232 stream is that the kernel is chatty. I've suppressed a lot of the boot-up messages, but there are still all those /etc/rc startup messages. As the ALIX board only has one serial port, those messages are sent to Igor. To avoid sending Igor into a tail-spin, or more importantly, sending the boat into a tail-spin, Igor ignores all RS232 output when Mother boots, until the magic word is sent over the wire. The magic word is XYZZY. Anyone want to try and figure out where that comes from?