Autonomous Sailboat

Thayer School of Engineering @ Dartmouth College

Collaborators

  • Ben Bassett BE Candidate, Controls Engineering
  • Student #2 BE Candidate, Mechanical Engineering
  • Student #3 MEng Candidate, Electrical Engineering
  • Student #4 MEng Candidate, Controls Engineering
  • Student #5 PhD Candidate, Robotics

Skills & Tools

Additive Manufacturing Arduino Bulkhead Design C C++ CAD CFD Dead Reckoning Extended Kalman Filter GPS/IMU Navigation Machining MATLAB Simulink Soldering Waterproofing Wind Sensing
01

Introduction

Context

This project was completed as a requirement for ENGS 147: Mechatronics; the course spanned 11 weeks in the spring of 2023. The team was composed of five students between undergraduate and PhD level.

Project Details

The project had three requirements:

  • The sailboat must exclusively use wind power to move. Any movement due to rudder motion is acceptable otherwise.
  • The sailboat must take in a point on the water, sail to the point, then sail back.
  • The sailboat must remain upright throughout.

The team had access to any materials within a budget of USD 200. An Arduino and Raspberry Pi were provided by the university, along with: design software, additive manufacturing materials/machines, wiring, and other common workshop materials/tools.

Team holding the assembled sailboat
02

Planning

Our team decided to divide responsibilities into four major subsystems: mechanical, electrical, controls, and positioning. Mechanical and electrical would segment the physical design of the sailboat. Controls encompasses navigation, sensing, and the control architecture. Position refers to the acquisition of the sailboat's current location.

Mechanical

Electrical

Controls

Positioning

03

Timeline

Mechanical
Electrical
Controls
Positioning

Week 1

Mechanical Design Hull and Prototype Sail
Student #2Student #5
Electrical Choose Microcontroller and Wiring
Ben BassettStudent #4
Controls Sketch Outer Loop Control Architecture
Ben BassettStudent #4
Positioning Design Extended Kalman Filter for Dead Reckoning + GPS
Student #3Student #4

Week 2

Mechanical Join Hull and Redesign Sail
Ben BassettStudent #2Student #4Student #5
Electrical Choose Motors, Encoders, and Antennae
Ben BassettStudent #2Student #4

Week 3

Electrical Interface Hardware and Confirm Functionality
Ben Bassett
Controls Design Inner Loop for Sail
Ben Bassett
Positioning Choose GPS Architecture
Student #3

Week 4

Mechanical Design Bulkhead, Buoyancy System, and Wind Sensors
Ben BassettStudent #2Student #5
Positioning Debug GPS and Integrate with Outer Control Loop
Student #3

Week 5

Controls Simulate and Tune Controls + Navigation
Ben BassettStudent #3

Week 6

Mechanical & Electrical Assembly and Waterproof Tests
Ben BassettStudent #5

Week 7

Week 8

Week 9

Mechanical & Electrical Integration
Ben BassettStudent #2Student #5

Week 10

Week 11

04

Process and Iteration

Team assembling and wiring the sailboat

05

Results

On-water testing from a canoe
06

Conclusion