Microtransat Intro and how we got here

The Microtransat Challenge is a competition for building and sailing autonomous boats, or "drone ships," across the Atlantic ocean. The challenge was created in 2010 by a group of researchers at Trinity College Dublin as a way to encourage the development of autonomous boat technology and promote the use of robotics in marine environments. The goal of the challenge is to build a small, low-cost robot boat that can navigate across the Atlantic ocean without any human intervention. The first team to successfully complete the crossing wins the challenge.  See: https://www.microtransat.org/

As of writing (Jan 2023), no team has yet completed the most difficult tier of the challenge - to sail an autonomous boat across the Atlantic, using only solar power and receiving no outside support/instructions.  It's this challenge we've (Damian, Josh and Josh) set our sights on and sailing West from the UK to the cost of America, it will be a journey of over 6000kms.  An incredible test of endurance for a tiny robotic boat, with the competition limiting the maximum length to 2.4m - a matchstick compared to the waves and storms of the Atlantic.  

We've now been working on this project for a few years having all independently followed the competition since its inception.  Meeting through our local Makerspace, we were all friends for quite some time before realising a shared passion for tackling the Microtransat challenge.  It took our meeting, and the combination of our unique skills, to finally catalyse the project and start making significant progress.  Since then, we've built a small fleet of robot boats as we learn, develop the key technological components and generally have fun messing about on the water!

So far, we have achieved autonomous sailing with a few different prototype boat designs on nearby lakes, but haven't yet reached a level of robustness where we feel confident to move to sea trials.  The next major goal is to complete several days of unattended sailing on a lake before heading to the ocean.  After initial trials, we will attempt a course around the Scilly Isles from the tip of Cornwall.  Then finally it will be time for the Microtransat challenge itself.

This blog is a rather overdue attempt to chronicle the adventure, with other posts to capture future (and past) aspects in more detail.  


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