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?