SailBOT at Virginia Tech
About
The SailBOT team at VT designs and manufactures fully autonomous robotic sailboats and autonomous high-power electric motor boats for the International Robotic Sailing Regatta and Promoting Electric Propulsion (PEP) competitions respectively.
SailBOT at VT is divided into 6 sub-teams: Mechanical Engineering, Electrical/ Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Naval Architecture/Ocean Engineering, Sail/Aerospace Engineering, and PR/ Outreach. Each contributes to the design and creation of both our autonomous sailboat and high-power electric motorboat.
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Mechanical team members are responsible for designing and manufacturing the mechanical systems on the boat such as linkages, sheeting systems for the sail, mounts for components, and drivetrains that are designed to operate in high-stress conditions. The mechanical subteam also works closely with other subteams to help with manufacturing and integrating designs into a cohesive final product.
Computer Science team members are responsible for training custom machine learning models to help the boats be aware of their surroundings, full stack software development on telemetry GUI tools and servers, working with industry-standard robotics frameworks, creating autopilot software and controls algorithms for both sailboats and motor boats, utilizing simulations for controls testings and validation, embedded programming to help the main computer communicate with various electrical components, and much more.
Electrical/ Computer Engineering team members are responsible for designing, prototyping, and assembling custom printed circuit boards with various electrical components, addressing safety considerations for high power electronics, power efficiency analysis, digital signal filtering for high accuracy sensing, designing high-performance controls algorithms and systems, and embedded programming to help the main onboard computer communicate with sensors/ devices.
Naval Architecture/Ocean Engineering team members are responsible for designing and manufacturing the boat's hull and optimizing its shape and weight for speed and stability. The Nav Arch team is involved in the design process each step of the way; creating and optimizing hull shapes and keel designs to enhance speed and maneuverability, choosing materials to optimize weight and structural durability, constructing foam molds into fiberglass hulls, and more. As a member of Nav Arch, you have unique opportunities for hands-on experience every step of the way.
Sail/ Aerospace Engineering team members are responsible for designing and manufacturing the boat's sail propulsion system. The team determines the appropriate sail shape and design including whether or not to proceed with a soft or hard sail based design and work closely with the Nav Arch team to determine the best hull shape for the desired sail setup. Team members will have the opportunity to learn how to design, prototype, test, and construct airfoils and soft sails that maximize performance. Additionally, learning about flow analysis, the relationship between lift and drag, and manufacturing processes.
PR/ Outreach team members are responsible for securing funding from various sources as well as promoting the team to prospective members via various modes such as major email groups and events.
The team consists primarily of undergraduate students and is open to all academic levels and majors with no application required to join!