OCEANGOING ASV
We've been working on an oceangoing ASV for a couple of years and finally launched it on February 8, 2025 from Avila Beach, California. The destination is Hawaii. This boat uses all Blue Trail Engineering components: the thruster is our MTR-2000, the rudder servo is our SER-2020, and all the cables and connectors are from our Cobalt Series. If the boat makes it to Hawaii, it will demonstrate the reliability of our products. If it doesn't make it to Hawaii, we'll blame it on sharks or pirates.
Update from March 13: it did make it to Hawaii! And sure enough, it was nibbled on by something (see photo below). Now the boat is continuing farther west...
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Below is a tracking map that is updated once per day (click on the markers to see various parameters):
Specifications:
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Length: 2.6 m
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Mass: 28 kg
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Solar panel: Sunbeam 126 Tough++ (it doesn't actually generate 126 watts, though... closer to 100 watts)
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Solar charge controller: Genasun GV-10
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Motor: Blue Trail Engineering MTR-2000
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Motor controller: Castle Creations Phoenix Edge 50
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Propeller: APC Sport 8x8
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Batteries: 2x Blue Robotics 14.8 V, 18 Ah (total of 532 watt-hours)
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Battery protection: BatterySpace #6221
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Communication: Rockblock 9603 satellite modem
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Autopilot: Arduino ESP32 running homemade code
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Battery and motor control/measurement: Arduino ESP32 running homemade code
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Other electronics: Pololu MinIMU-9 v6 for attitude and heading, Adafruit Mini GPS PA1010D for position, EagleTree RPM Sensor for motor RPM, multiple INA260 for voltage/current measurements, R/C receiver for manual control
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Hull construction: wet fiberglass layup co-cured with expanding polyurethane foam, G-10 reinforcements in key locations
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Solar panel base construction: 1/2" foam core laminated with carbon fiber
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Rudder construction: carbon fiber
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Keel construction: aluminum spine overmolded with urethane, 4.5 kg of lead in keel bulb
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And below are some pictures:
