It’s been a little over three weeks here on the Autonomous Boat challenge and we’ve already been very busy planning out the project for the course of the year. We’ve had multiple meetings far and some of the thing we’ve been working on including assigning tasks, creating sub divisions within our group, developing timelines and budgeting material costs. The goal of this project is to have it autonomously navigate the open waters of the ocean. In order to do this, the craft must be self navigating which means it needs to know where it needs to be and what it has to do in order to get there.

We are currently in the designing phase and are in talks about choosing what type of hull would be best suited for the craft. The team is looking at purchasing a used jetski and using the general structure as the basis for future modifications. Other engineering design choices such as a diesel powered engine are being contemplated as diesel would give us the highest fuel efficiency.

Short Term Goal
The team is currently designing a fully autonomous boat that can navigate and propel itself from the coast of California to Catalina island. The team is determining the best possible launch point, but a successful cross and landing on the island would allow us to make modifications before we plan for a larger launch.

Long Term Goal
Ideally, the boat would exceed our expectations in its journey from California to Catalina Island, and the team could prepare the craft to navigate the open Atlantic Ocean in the summer of 2017. The initial motivation for creating this project was to compete in an international challenge called the Microtransat Challenge, which calls for teams around the world to engineer a boat capable of transoceanic expeditions.

We’re really excited to see the direction of this project and hope you’ll follow for updates on the team’s progress!