The purpose of this page is to describe the high level goals of the project. As with any project, there are minimum requirements, and there are 'nice to haves' (aka version 2 or later iteration features).
The boat itself will be the largest I can comfortably tote around in a normal car. It needs to be big so it will handle rough ocean conditions, but small for portability and storage. I also feel small is safer, should a collision occur with another boat. I am very concerned about some of the high-speed passenger traffic in the Catalina channel (the boats that ferry passengers too and from Catalina are easily fast enough to present danger should Serenity accidentally get in front of one of them) :O
Stage 1 - RC test of the boat's handling COMPLETED
- Basically an over-sized RC sailboat. The goal here is to simply test the boat out in the water to make sure it sails properly, etc. Rudder control and possibly main sheet control as well (I may work on this in a later stage)
Stage 2 - Autopilot / GPS way point following COMPLETED
- Basic autopilot testing, with the boat tacking as needed when heading upwind.
- Cameras that takes pictures and video triggered at specific intervals (for example, pictures taken from each waypoint, etc).
Stage 3 - Telemetry, Solar, Safety
- Probably will use a standard tracking device for basic position updates. Once longer courses are attempted, this will be a necessity..
- Possibly solar powered! Ideally self sufficient with solar...
- Safety precautions (mast lights, radar reflector)
Misc "Nice to haves"
- Maintain constant network communication for live data feedback. (though probably too costly to seriously consider)
- Long range obstacle detection/avoidance. This is not likely to happen unless I come across some decent/inexpensive long range sensors (range at least 20 feet, ideally up to several hundred feet to avoid speed boats!)
- Depth sensor to avoid grounding the boat!
- Temp/humidity logging. This is not too difficult or expensive, but it's not much of a priority either. This is something I'd add once everything else seems to be working well and I have the itch to add more features