Image description: power distribution board, battery in new enclosure, dc/dc converter, testing of the different boards
In the last weeks, the electronics team produced a second important PCB for our boat: the power distribution board (yes, we messed up and ordered the wrong capacitors). It acts as a central junction for the main power consumers and producers. It measures all the important currents and does voltage conversions. While testing the power distribution board, we even had the opportunity to successfully test the short circuit protection of our battery. The culprit: a not correctly soldered DC/DC converter. As visible in the picture, because of the size and type of packaging, visual checking was not possible.
Next up is refining the designs of the power distribution and main board for a next and hopefully more mature generation.
September project update: back in the workshop
Now that we've successfully survived exam season, we're working hard on getting the boat into the water.
As seen in our last posts, the mechanics team has made great progress. Starting with the deck, we began the journey of vacuum infusion, continued with the hull, and have now (hopefully) finished with the keel. The final parts look great, but we won't miss searching for minuscule holes in the plastic wrap! Now they just need sanding, polishing, varnishing, and final assembly. We are also prototyping our thruster assembly to ensure everything goes according to plan before manufacturing the parts out of metal.
The electronics team hasn't gone missing, either; we've been busy with PCBs, batteries, and motor testing. We produced the first revision of our mainboard, which features a GPS, compass, satellite internet, and an AIS receiver. We've also made progress on the energy side: we have solar panels and MPPTs, and we built our first battery—42 Li-ion cells with a total capacity of 750 Wh.
Currently, we are testing the components, finding errors, and trying to fix them. Nobody is perfect, so the PCBs will probably need a second (or even a third) revision. On the other hand, we made an interesting discovery: who knew electronics could work as a kitchen?
Manufacturing
We're currently manufacturing the final version of our boat, which will allow us to conduct first tests after the exam season on the Blausteinsee.
TdsI 2025
Last Test of the Year
Today was our last test for this year. We wanted to try out a few changes we made to the prototype. Namely the correct amount of counterweight in the keel, a more permanent layout of the electronics and also receiving the boats position and power usage via LoRa.
All of the modifications worked out very well.
First Test of the Prototype
After a sprint weekend, our prototype finally touched water for the first time on a foggy Sunday. It wasn’t quite the Atlantic Ocean, but the calm waters of Blausteinsee near Aachen proved challenging enough. Unfortunately, we underestimated the forces resulting from the deck, which resulted in the bulb keel being to light. So our boat was prone to tipping to one side. On the bright side, we could successfully test our propulsion, steering and telemetry only with small hiccups. Also, worthy of a mention, all the progress we made on the software: first version of an autopilot (sadly couldn’t be tested) and a nice interface for telemetry and the autopilot.
All in all, we learned a lot from this test and had a great deal of fun. Next goal: refine the prototype for the next test ;)
Augustinerbachfest 2024
We had a great time at the Augustinerbachfest! Thank you to everyone who visited our stand!
Manufacturing our first prototype
We are currently building a first, simplified prototype of our boat, which will be used as a development base for our electrics and software.
28.06.2024
27.06.2024
20.06.2024
Annual general meeting
We held our first ordinary general meeting at the Collective Incubator.
