Autonomous Model Sailboat Arne Fliflet Autonomous or robotic

Autonomous Model Sailboat Arne Fliflet

• Autonomous or robotic sailboats - large and small - have been under investigation for over 20 years • A 15 -m autonomous wind/solar powered ship, the Mayflower, will attempt to cross the Atlantic in September. Mark Anderson, IEEE Spectrum, Jan. 2020, p. 36 Roland Stelzer, Autonomous Sailboat Navigation, Ph. D thesis, Centre for Computational Intelligence De Montfort University, Leicester, UK.

Autonomous sailing is a challenging problem • Destination position must be known • Sensors are required for boat orientation (heading) and wind direction & speed • Based on this information a course must be determined • Boat heading and course directions are often not the same • Sailboats cannot sail directly into the wind but must tack • Optimum boat speed may not occur in course direction • Sail trim must be optimized based on wind and heading directions • Sails must be trimmed according to course, wind, and boat heading directions • Boat rudder and sail trim must be continually adjusted to sail the boat.

Points of Sail Beating Tacking upwind Reaching Sailing downwind

A Dragonforce 65 R/C model racing sailboat is available as a test bed • R/C controlled servo for rudder control (steering) • R/C controlled winch for sail trim (jib and main) • 2. 4 GHz transmitter and receiver

Basic requirements for autonomous sailing • Knowledge of destination and course sailed • GPS or heading and distance • Other sensors needed • Sensor to measure wind direction and speed • Orientation sensor to give boat heading, speed • Ability to determine an optimum course and steer to that course • Ability to determine and set optimum sail trim

Possible Project Goals (size and weight of systems must be compatible with 65 -cm test boat) • Add onboard sensors for wind and boat directions, boat position • Add onboard navigation system (keep R/C system as backup) • Develop AI system for autonomous sailing • Record data from sensors and servos • Ability to sail to a mark for various wind directions • Ability to sail around a triangular course

Geometry of Sailing