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The 5th International Robotic Sailing
Competition! SailBot 2011 13-16 June 2011 Annapolis, Maryland
Notice
of Event - SailBot 2011 Sailing
Instructions - SailBot 2011 SailBot 2011, the North American competition for robotic sailboats was
held at the United States Naval Academy from 13-16 June 2011! 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 for the actual requirements of
each class). The competition
consisted of five events to test various aspects of the design, construction
and control logic. Each event was worth 10 points for a maximum of 50
possible earned points.
As in the past,
there was no entry fee! Six teams participated in conditions that ranged from
near-calm to 15 knots. All the teams were competitive and showed clever
innovations. For the first time in SailBot history the final placings were not determined until the last boat crossed
the finish line in the last event! Results:
The
Boats! (Click for larger resolution)
Memorial Univ.
Queen’s Univ.
Royal Mil. College
Univ. of British Columbia
USNA – Gill the Boat
USNA – Spirit of Annapolis SailBot
2012 will be hosted by the University of British Columbia! SailBot 2009! The 3rd International
SailBot Competition
Queen's
Wales
MOOP!
USNA "Luce Canon"
USNA "First Time" 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. 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. 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!
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 Additional Information on the
USNA SailBot Team Link
to avi of Navy practicing with FT in 17 knots Link to wmv of
Navy practicing in 4 knots Link
to Navy SailBot team promo Link to
Navy SailBot #3, Gill the Boat crossing the Chesapeake
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-June
is generally warm, with temperatures between 15-30C. Winds can be 0-30 knots and we may have rain!
In other words, expect pretty much anything. Contact: Prof. Paul Miller, 2011 Event Chairman Other Links:
Microtransat
- A transAtlantic race for autonomous sail craft Papers:
2009 Paper describing the development of the USNA SailBots, PowerPoint,
VelPP for First Time, LC
Systems
2010 Paper describing Gill The Boat 2011 Paper describing Spirit of
Annapolis 2011 Paper describing MicroTransat routing 2011 Paper describing
USNA systems development SailBot 2008, 2009 and 2011 were
co-sponsored by:
Last modified: 27JAN2012 |
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