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R2AK -- with a robot entry! — Parallax Forums

R2AK -- with a robot entry!

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
edited 2016-06-29 14:58 in General Discussion
It's a big deal in these parts -- maybe not elsewhere. But the second Race to Alaska left Port Townsend last Thursday at 6 a.m., sent off once more by the stirring refrains of the Russian National Anthem. (I dunno. Maybe because Russia once owned Alaska?) I won't go into the details, since they're summarized here: http://www.r2ak.com

The unmanned robot entry from NavOcean didn't make it very far. (Maybe they should've used a Propeller for navigation instead of an Arduino.) But it was an interesting craft. Totally sail-powered with solar power for the GPS guidance electronics, sail-trim, and rudder. I asked the owners where their radar reflector was. (It had to cross shipping lanes, after all.) Not to worry, they replied. The craft is equipped with a vessel-traffic receiver so it knows where the ships are to avoid them. Okay. I was rooting for it, but it never made it across the straits to Victoria.

My current favorite is the local team Turn Point Design, currently in eighth place: https://www.facebook.com/R2AK.TurnPointDesign/

You can follow the action in real-time here: http://http://tracker.r2ak.com/

It looks like the MAD Dog Racing team is pretty well positioned to take the $10K prize (cash nailed to a tree in Ketchikan). But who will claim the second-place prize: steak knives? Why steak knives? You've never watched GlenGarry Glen Ross? Here's where the inspiration came from:

youtubedotcom/watch?v=Q4PE2hSqVnk

Not gonna post the actual video, since it's rated R.

Enjoy the action!

-Phil

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