I thought I would finally start my own discussion. The following are pictures of my boat in various stages of the build.
Formers are set on the building board ready for planking. The masking tape on them is to prevent the planks from getting glued to them because they will be removed when the hull is done. Former #3 and #8 are plywood and will be left in for structural reasons.
Hulls are planked and sanded. They are not meant to be water tight. The planking is simple there to give the glass and epoxy its shape and strength.
One of the hulls glassed and ready for sanding.
Picture just showing the beam of the hull. Notice the leftover masking tape in the hull where the formers were.
One hull with deck reinforcements and the other without.
Both hulls are decked and awaiting glass.
Now this is when all the work starts to pay off. Next picture is a float test. She is carrying 6 pounds of LiPo batteries ( 40 Amps ), and a 2 pound weight on the deck. Notice how the bow is not breaking the surface off the water. She is still a bit high in the water. Probably around 25 Amps in each hull will be perfect.
Lets add a measure 33 paint scheme from a CL- 55 class WWII warship.
Another angle.
I have loaded Ardurover 2.45 on the APM 2.5 and all the testing seems to be good except for the thrusters because I don't have them yet. I have cycled through manual, learning, steering, auto, and invoked a RTL according to my ground station. In steering mode if I move the bow to the right the rudders turn to bring the bow back to the left. I don't know if I will use rudder or skid steering at this point. If I use skid steering I still may keep the rudders available on a separate channel in case a thruster was to get fouled. I would be able to get home instead of doing circles in the water. I can also cut the rudders down to about half the length they are now if they prove to be to powerful.
My OSD is not working but I am sure that is a simple error on my part and will look into it later. I'm hoping Blue Robotics doesn't have anymore delays so I can get out on the water.
Any comments, suggestions, or questions are welcome.
Regards,
David R. Boulanger
Replies
Hi Tom,
With you on the heat. If I don't do it by 10:00 A.M I try again tomorrow.
Regards,
David R. Boulanger
Hi David,
A friend of mine and I have been running our Rovers around each other's courses and are drenched after an hour of running.
I have plotted out the waypoints on the Vista View Drivers packed sand loop and short course at Vista View Park in west Davie and hope to run there this coming week.
The Association's lake shore restoration is finished and I hope to get the Vbox hull in the water this coming week also. I need to take the hull up to the Association pool and check the trim with the batteries installed before it goes in the lake.
Stay cool.
Regards,
Tom C AVD
@David,
That is good news!
My three T100 Thrusters with ESCs are supposed to ship in about another week.
Regards,
Tom C AVD
I am also working on mounts for the T100s. I wanted a vector able mount so I could get rid of rudders. I also wanted a through hull design. Here is my solution which I am getting 3d printed at the moment. The fist shows the integrated servo mount. The second shows the T100 mounted to the mount.
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Jason,
Are you using bearings or an interference fit? My concern is the pressure the thrusters are going to put on the shaft causing friction and making them hard to turn. My design also has the potential of using a sail or sails as a means of propulsion . That's why I have built it this way.
Regards,
David R. Boulanger
Here is a video of the mounts before I put it in the water. The fan noise is from the electronics box.
Video: https://www.dropbox.com/s/plnvj9tmkymua11/IMG_2954.MOV?dl=0
This video shows just putting around at 1/4 throttle.
Video: https://www.dropbox.com/s/7niet0y19geqk1z/IMG_2955.MOV?dl=0
This shows full throttle, full lock.
Video: https://www.dropbox.com/s/j3ah44m2cuy3xhn/IMG_2956.MOV?dl=0
This shows the thruster from the underside just after pulling it out of the pool.
Video: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2x06u710pmq5pcq/IMG_2958.MOV?dl=0
Jason,
Nice job!!!
Regards,
David R. Boulanger
Gentleman, Just an update on my boat. I have about 13hrs. on the thrusters and all is well. They have a little bit of a vibration at low RPM's but considering the fact that they use plastic bearings this is probably expected. No complaints with Blue Robotics product. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBCaP_iIODE
A little video of Model sailboats racing during a practice session. It gets boring but watch the first 5 minutes at least.
Regards,
David R. Boulanger
David,
Glad to hear they are working! The low speed vibration is an issue and we are working hard to fix it! It's caused by the fact that the plastic bushing have a little bit of play with the motor shaft. As the propeller rotates, the radial force from the magnets causes the shaft to move back and forth a bit. We're working to tighten up the tolerances and it shouldn't be a big issue in the future.
Best,
Rusty
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