Autonomous Solar Tow Boat
erco
Posts: 20,257
This looks legit, despite some idiotic live commentary from the user/builder. Apparently in Seattle, this small solar model boat tows its owner 20 miles (?) through various waterways, steering autonomously. I guess depending on how big the onboard battery is and how fast you go, anything is possible. IIRC both PhiPi and Ken have built electric boats at some point, so this may be of general interest.
Comments
Totally interesting video, despite the inane patter -- especially since I've kayaked in many of the places on his route. The waters he navigated don't have tidal currents, so I wonder how ArduPilot would do here in Port Townsend Bay with its tidal inflow and outflow.
I was especially interested in how he got through the Montlake Cut. Its hard-walled sides cause strong wake reflections, resulting in a very high chop when there's boat traffic. I nearly capsized there once. His craft seemed to handle it okay.
Now I'm inspired to get back to programming my sidewheel-paddled boogie board. No stinking ArduPilot as a crutch -- just a GPS, compass, and a Prop programmed in Spin.
-Phil
Here's another of his autonomous boat videos. This one cracks me up. He's lucky to get his boat back.
Toward the end, it does answer my question about ArduPilot regarding navigating through wind/current conditions. It obviously doesn't autotune to accommodate changing conditions, which would be a problem around here.
-Phil
Funny mission, but he did it!
Indeed! And he deserves a lot of credit for his videos' production values. It takes a lot of effort to put together presentations like those two.
-Phil
Very entertaining videos. The man does set high bars for himself.
I hope Elon does not use ArduPilot for the flight to Mars.
This guy is a favorite Youtuber of mine, he has done neat stuff in the area of R/C airplanes, and some videos have pretty funny stuff.
If you notice some the voice similarity with John Heder ("Napolean Dynamite") it's because they are both from Utah. Interesting, I guess there is a Utah regional accent.
There is another phenomenally talented Youtuber by the name Cody'slab I encourage people to check out. He is the single most talented person on youtube.
So funny, I can hear it now!
"Ever take that boat off any sweet jumps?"