The 3rd International
SailBot Competition For Autonomous Sail Craft! Held 11-13 May 2009 Annapolis, Maryland
Queen's Wales MOOP! "Luce
Canon" "First Time"
SailBot 2009, the North American competition for
autonomous sailboats was held at the United States Naval Academy from 11-13
May 2009. The competition was open to the 2 meter SailBot Class and an Open Class
(which are boats up to 4 meters in length - see the Class Rules below for the actual requirements of each class).
Five boats representing three schools; Queen's University of Canada, the
University of Wales at Aberystwyth and the United States Naval Academy,
participated. Design summaries of the boats can be found
here.
The first event was a design presentation highlighting the vessel's
development. That was followed by on-the-water racing including: a
precision navigation contest, match racing, a 5 km race and a
station-keeping contest.
This year's competition was marked by choppy
conditions which tested the boats' watertight integrity and ability to power
through chop. When the chop was light, so was the wind! Currents of up
to 0.5 knots made it important for the boats to have speed in light air. No team came through unchallenged as
highlighted by the continued lack of finishers in the precision navigation
contest!
Queen's and USNA clearly improved significantly from last
year with Queen's modifying their boat with a deeper keel for added
stability and padding of the hull to increase hull volume to offset the
added keel weight. Their increased stability showed with greater boat speed
in all wind speeds and the ability to sail in stronger winds. The USNA team built a new,
lighter boat and increased the sail area of the old boat significantly. The
added sail area helped in the lighter air but required the team to switch to
smaller sails as the breeze built. The new boat was narrower and had a
slightly lighter but longer bulb. The lower stability was apparent, but the lower hull
resistance more than offset that liability and the new boat was quite quick
in all conditions. USNA's systems were significantly more advanced, but
watertight integrity issues hurt their reliability.
Wales brought two very small boats which meant that they
were much slower than the other boats, but their reliability was impressive.
No issues surfaced, but they did have problems handling the light
air, chop and current.
The SailBot Class is primarily aimed at undergraduate
university teams but high school teams are also encouraged to enter. While
the objective is for the students to build boats to their own designs, kit
boats are welcome with the understanding that the team will receive reduced
points for design development in the presentation event. The Open Class
includes boats designed and built by graduate students, other academics or
those in industry.
Queen's has graciously offered to hold the next SailBot
regatta in June 2010!
Overall Scores: United States Naval
Academy ("Luce Canon"): 28.6 points United States Naval
Academy ("First Time"): 26 points Queen's University
("North Star"): 24.5
points University of Wales, Aberystwyth
("MOOP 2"): 13.6 points University of Wales, Aberystwyth
("MOOP1"): 12.9 points Events: Presentation Winner:
USNA Match Racing Winner:
USNA (Luce Canon) Station Keeping Winner:
USNA (Luce Canon) Long Distance Race
Winner: USNA (First Time) Navigation Contest: No
finishers Open Class Winner: University of
Wales, Aberystwyth
Competition Gallery:
More great pictures from Rob of Queen's at his
Flickr website!
Here are the key documents
for the regatta.
Through the generosity of the American Bureau of Shipping the entry fees were waived this year!
Notice of Event - SailBot 2009
Sailing Instructions - SailBot 2009
Links:
2010 World Robotic Sailing Championship and SailBot Competition
World Robotic Sailing Championship 2009
Microtransat - A transAtlantic race for autonomous sail craft
Paper describing the development of the USNA SailBots, PowerPoint, VelPP for First Time, LC Systems
Housing Links:
(for no-cost housing with local families please contact Paul below)
Camping - The nearest campground (tent/RV sites and economical cabins)- about 20 minutes away
Hotels - The nearest hotel (and priciest, but VERY NICE!)
- Historic hotels and inns within walking distance
- An interesting place to stay within walking distance and above one of the best deli's in town.
The nearest airport with commercial service is Baltimore Washington International (BWI). There is also an AmTrak railroad station at the airport.
The weather in Annapolis in mid-May is generally mild, with temperatures between 50-80F (10-27C). Winds can be 0-30 knots and we may have rain! In other words, expect pretty much anything.
Contact:
Prof. Paul Miller, 2009 Event Chairman
SailBot 2008! The 2nd International SailBot Competition
Welcome to the Webpage for SailBot 2008! SailBot is an international competition for autonomously controlled sailboats. Aimed primarily at undergraduate student teams, the goal is to give engineering students a practical application of the topics they have learned, while also providing a fun way to learn project management in a multidisciplinary environment. A successful SailBot balances the needs of naval architecture, mechanical engineering, systems and electrical engineering, as well as project management.
Queen's University UBC USNA
SailBots have a maximum length of two meters, a maximum beam of three meters and a maximum draft of 1.5 meters. There are few other restrictions, which allow for a wide variety of solutions. The boats must be, as much as possible, designed and built by the students.
The 2008 competition was hosted by the United States Naval Academy from 12-14 May at the Robert Crown Sailing Center. Included this year was an Exhibition Class (Open Class) for those boats and teams that did not meet the SailBot critieria.
Results!
Congratulations to Queen's University for winning SailBot 2008! As is typical in early May, Annapolis provided a variety of weather conditions, ranging from 30 knots and rain, to sunny, warm and calm! Teams from three schools participated with close racing and the thinnest of margins. Each boat was quite different and all had some trials and tribulations.
Overall Scores:
Queen's University: 25.5 points
United States Naval Academy: 24.5 points
University of British Columbia: 13 points
Events:
Presentation Winner: Queen's
Match Racing Winner: USNA
Station Keeping Winner: Queen's
Long Distance Race Winner: USNA
Navigation Contest: No starters
Exhibition Class Winner: UBC
Competition Gallery:
Link to avi file of match race
Link to another avi of the match race
Link to avi of Navy practicing in 17 knots
Link to wmv of Navy practicing in 4 knots
Link to Navy SailBot team promo
SailBot 2008 and 2009 were co-sponsored by:
Last modified: 13 NOV 2009