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.
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 ;)
We had a great time at the Augustinerbachfest! Thank you to everyone who visited our stand!
We successfully assembled and tested one of the many PCBs required for our boat. This particular PCB is a compass module equipped with an STM32 microcontroller, a compass, and a CAN transceiver for communication with the rest of our boat's systems.
We are currently building a first, simplified prototype of our boat, which will be used as a development base for our electrics and software.
We held our first ordinary general meeting at the Collective Incubator.
