Microtransat Transatlantic Robot Sailboat Race
Writing by Evan Ackerman on Monday, 10 of September , 2007 at 4:18 am
By Evan Ackerman
The above video shows the IBoat, an autonomous miniature sailboat designed to take part in the Microtransat Challenge, a transatlantic sailing race for little robotic sailboats. It might not quite be the DARPA Grand Challenge, but these are little sailboats, and they’ll be all alone on a big ocean. They’ll have to figure out how to choose the best course between GPS points based on the wind, doing all of the operations a normal sailboat does. Even the most basic operations, like tacking, require some skill and forethought, as well as awareness of the current weather conditions.
The boats themselves are about 4 meters long with a weight of 40 kg and aren’t allowed to use any method of propulsion other than the wind. The transatlantic race is scheduled for sometime in late 2008, with several shorter races taking place beforehand to allow teams to test their craft. Next up: equipping the boats with miniature pirate flags and cannon and making it a real contest.
[ Microtransat ] VIA [ New Scientist ]
Leave a comment
Category: Competitive
- Add this post to
- Del.icio.us -
- Digg
No comments yet.
