The After several months in "drydock," the boat went back in the water last weekend. There's a lot of stuff on the boat that wasn't on there before: new carbon fiber struts to connect the hull to the thruster, a truly waterproof rudder actuator, new waterproof electrical connectors, a drybox for the electronics, real batteries, and most importantly, solar panels (thanks Renogy!).
The boat now weighs just over 50 pounds and will most likely not gain any more weight. The testing this last weekend showed that its speed is essentially the same as the last time it was in the water several months ago (about 3 mph at 20 watts). Although it weighs more now, the struts are also more streamlined, so apparently those two factors balanced each other out. I'm still missing a fairing on the rear end of the boat, which ought to clean it up a lot and add a bit of speed. And I need to get a stiffer propeller, as the current plastic one bends too much under load. That might help a little with the speed too.
Here are some pictures of various components. The first one is the front of the thruster pod. The black thing sticking out the top of the photo is the carbon fiber strut. There's an aluminum bracket connecting the thruster pod to the strut. The gold-colored thing is the brass bulkhead connector made from a compression fitting, with a few additional features machined in. The cable is molded in as part of the strut.
The boat now weighs just over 50 pounds and will most likely not gain any more weight. The testing this last weekend showed that its speed is essentially the same as the last time it was in the water several months ago (about 3 mph at 20 watts). Although it weighs more now, the struts are also more streamlined, so apparently those two factors balanced each other out. I'm still missing a fairing on the rear end of the boat, which ought to clean it up a lot and add a bit of speed. And I need to get a stiffer propeller, as the current plastic one bends too much under load. That might help a little with the speed too.
Here are some pictures of various components. The first one is the front of the thruster pod. The black thing sticking out the top of the photo is the carbon fiber strut. There's an aluminum bracket connecting the thruster pod to the strut. The gold-colored thing is the brass bulkhead connector made from a compression fitting, with a few additional features machined in. The cable is molded in as part of the strut.
The yellow box in the picture below is my electronics enclosure. It's just an off-the-shelf enclosure with holes drilled in the side for a few bulkhead connectors. Then you see my beautiful attempt at a circuit board to the right. It's got a voltage regulator to cap the solar panel voltage, the R/C receiver, and a power switch. Eventually all this will be organized better and an autopilot and satellite modem will be added.
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