A new year has started and members of the UCI Transat Project are working hard on completing this project in time for launching it on it’s journey from California to Catalina over Spring Break. Over the Winter break, team lead Connor Kingman installed a filter on the fuel intake line to remove impurities before they enter the engine and potentially cause performance problems.

Peter and Fabian fabricated an engine mounting plate with build-in vibration isolators using rubber washers. This will minimize the amount of kinetic energy that the engine translates to the boat’s hull.

In the next couple weeks, the team will be researching how to best optimize power consumption for both the battery and diesel systems on board. The additional of Thermoelectric couplers installed on the exhaust outtake piping will allow some energy to be regained and returned to the battery for maximized performance. This will also ensure the vessel is utilizing the maximum amount of energy already created by the diesel engine exhaust.

The team has assigned roles to each member and is planning on completing weekly tasks. Now that the project is taking shape this quarter, multiple sub-teams are being formed within the team. The team has broken it into the following categories: Control Systems, Powertrain Design, Energy Storage & Consumption, Steering Assembly, Simulation & Design Analysis, and Public Relations & Outreach. All of these smaller teams are working independently but in conjunction with each other to ensure a fluid completion of this project.

The team is ordering parts to assemble the shaft during week 3 and hopes to get it installed by Week 4. Stay tuned for updates from UCI’s Autonomous Boat project!