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Autonomous boat crossing the Atlantic

Posted by Chris Anderson on July 9, 2013 at 1:55pm

From Hackaday:

While we may be waiting for unmanned drones to deliver a pizza, there’s already an unmanned ship plying the Atlantic on a transoceanic voyage. It’s called Scout, and it’s the product of about two years worth of work by a very close-knit group of friends.

Scout is a 12.5 foot ship constructed out of foam and carbon fiber loaded up with solar panels, electronics, an electric motor and a SPOT satellite tracker. The team has been working on Scout for the last two years now, and this last week the autonomous ship finally set out on its mission: a 3500 mile journey from Rhode Island across the Atlantic to Spain.

Right now, Scout is just over four days into its mission having travelled 90 miles from Rhode Island on its way to Spain. You can follow Scout on its journey on this very cool live tracking site.

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Comments

  • Gary McCray July 9, 2013 at 5:14pm

    Really great project guys, hope you get Scout back OK.

    Ill be interested to find out what happened.

    Just a small thought, possibly a heavy duty shake down cruise before a one of a kind first ever transatlantic crossing might be a good idea.

  • Moderator
    John Church July 9, 2013 at 5:11pm

    Thanks Phil!

  • Augusto M. Iturri July 9, 2013 at 5:08pm

    Nice project! This is the facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ScoutTransatlantic

  • Developer
    Jason Short July 9, 2013 at 3:58pm

    Their declination is off as well. by 5-10° That will hurt them later on the longer legs.

    Jason

  • Phil P July 9, 2013 at 3:37pm
    And.... Here is his comments unedited:

    Hi Phil,
    Thank for the message! Our blog was infected with malware somehow so we had to take it down for now, but we've been posting updates on Facebook and via email until we get it back.
    We're undertaking a rescue mission to get scout back- we think that there is an issue with the rudder and are going to fix it and send it back out!
    Good to hear from you!
    Dylan
  • Phil P July 9, 2013 at 3:35pm
    I emailed Dylan who is the head of the project. Ill report back here if I get a response.
  • Moderator
    John Church July 9, 2013 at 3:33pm

    Has it been circling to try and hit that missed waypoint? Is there a crazy current between the islands? Is anyone aware of the analysis? Their blog is down at the moment and I want to know...   :)

  • Phil P July 9, 2013 at 3:31pm
    Amazing work. Especially since this is funded out of their own pockets, and not even a Uni project! It's just for kicks!
  • Moderator
    Gary Mortimer July 9, 2013 at 2:35pm

    Deeply impressed I feel some competitions coming on....  

  • Justin M July 9, 2013 at 2:32pm

    According to the tracking website, its off course and heading back to land.

    No updates on the website and their blog link is incorrect - pity

    Interesting development

    Scout — Transatlantic Autonomous Robot
This reply was deleted.