Work on the Orthogonal Project continued through summer, with Asis joining the team through a surf OIT internship, and Evan as a summer session student. Simon worked with all the students identified below on all aspects.
The project has bifurcated into –
Orthogonal – the 30′ twin mast ply and glass Atlantic Proa with soft wingsails, and
Proabot Flotilla – a project to build a flock of small, autonomous, solar powered sailboats for oceanographic research. Simon developed this notion several years ago and the Orthogonal 25% scale model seemed an ideal platform to prototype the project on.
Proabot Flotilla
Proabot Flotilla vaka (hull), ama (outrigger), akas (crossbeams) and cantilever cockpit was complete by end of Spring 2016 (Simon, David, Woo). Prototype foils were also made (Simon).
Over summer, work proceeded on:
– Electromechanical drive and sensing of rudders and sails (Kevin)
– Onboard power system, computing, motor drive and sensor data collection (Asis)
– A suite of custom sensors is being built and calibrated – wind direction and speed, waterspeed (headway and leeway) and digital compass (Asis)
– A two way radio control system has been made and a custom controller with custom iPad based graphical display is in progress (Timothy)
Goals for fall (Proabot Flotilla)
– Soft wingsails will be built and tested in fall (David)
– Aerofoil sailsections are cut (Lauren)
– We plan on-land sail test soon and hope to do on water tests this fall.
Orthogonal
Much time over summer was spent developing accurate automated ply scarfing machinery – with some success (and a couple of burned out motors). Scarfing and bonding of the 30’x4′ ply sheet which comprise the sides of the hull is mostly done (Evan). Hull stem pieces (56x14x4″) are made (Simon). A prototype triangular prism aka (crossbeam) is made (Simon).
Much time over summer was spent developing accurate automated ply scarfing machinery – with some success (and a couple of burned out motors). Scarfing and bonding of the 30’x4′ ply sheet which comprise the sides of the hull is mostly done (Evan). Hull stem pieces (56x14x4″) are made (Simon). A prototype triangular prism aka (crossbeam) is made (Simon).
Much work has been done on the joint between crossbeams and ama – likely the area to experience strongest and most diverse forces on the entire boat. We are now bonding 48″ footings onto the ama (outrigger) hull. We are beginning to build dihedral (ply and glass) junction sections of complex geometry (Evan). David has drawn up SolidWorks models of the joint design developed over summer by Simon and Evan.
Goals for fall (Orthogonal)
– Complete aka/ama joint
– Bond hull side panels, scribe in construction grid (12″x12″, both sides), encapsulate in epoxy.
– Bond hull sides to stems and begin bending/flexing/shaping of hull sides.
– (This will involve extensive development of jigs, forms, clamps, braces and levaing and measuring)
– Install and bond temporary bulkheads
– Measure, cut, scarf and bond sole (floor)
– Invert hull and bond sole to hull sides