Registration fee will increase to $240 on 4/1.
We're going to build an autonomous boat that will navigate the James River, setting sail in Lynchburg with the goal of reaching Richmond. This is a lesson in robotics and adventure.
Building an autonomous boat will require students to work as a team as they learn and perform classic maker skills in combination with modern technological processes. There are five major pieces to this project: boat hull, propulsion, tracking, data collection, and navigation. The hull will be carved from foam, wrapped in fiberglass, and air brushed with custom artwork. It will be powered by a combination of solar and battery power, giving energy to motors that will spin 3D printed propellers. The boat will be tracked with GPS coordinates sent over the ham radio APRS network. The adventure will be captured by cameras and sensors that measure water temperatures and quality. The key to making this boat’s journey a long one will be its ability to navigate the waters. Autonomous navigation will take students to the world of machine vision and learning, using a combination of LIDAR, ultrasound, and night vision cameras to detect river banks and obstacles and to respond to their detection.
It's an undoubtably ambitious goal but one that we believe will be rewarding, regardless of the outcome.
Outline
Each meeting will begin with a short lecture, followed by students breaking into groups and working on their respective parts of the project. Instructors are there to guide and help problem solve.
Each student will be assigned a primary and secondary task, and multiple students will be assigned to the same tasks with the expectation that they work together.
Below is a summarized look at the list of tasks.
|
Task
|
Description
|
|
Design and build Hull
|
Foam carving and fiberglass, weatherproofing
|
|
Waterproof electronics
|
3D printing, waterproofing, moisture sensor
|
|
Propulsion
|
Power, motor, propeller
|
|
Tracking
|
GPS, APRS
|
|
Range finding
|
Ultrasonic sensor
|
|
Neural network
|
Take pics of river, train neural network, tensorflow
|
|
Machine vision
|
Implement OpenCV on TX1
|
|
Unsticking method
|
Creative design, study map and terrain, visit river
|
|
Navigation
|
Programming, microcontroller, sensors, soldering
|
|
PCB creation
|
Design, etch, solder PCB
|
|
Artwork
|
Paint, stickers, airbrush
|
|
Data Collection
|
Additional sensors such as pH, timelapse cameras
|
|
Writeup
|
Blog, video
|
|
3D print
|
Circuit board enclosure
|
|
Ocean plan
|
If the ocean is reached, then what?
|
Schedule
Classes will meet every Tuesday and Thursday night from 7 - 930pm and every Sunday afternoon from 1230 - 3pm, starting April 19th and ending June 5th. The boat launch will coincide with Lynchburg's annual Batteau Festival on June 16th.
Students are expected not to miss more than one class. Later in the project, some Sundays will meet at the river to test to boat rather than meeting at Vector Space. Please be able to accomodate these types of changes.
Eligibility
This project is for high school age students.
Scholarships are available to those looking for financial assistance. Apply under the Scholarship tab.
Our Sponsors
This project is generously sponsored by Cognizant's Making the Future program.
Extra
If you're wondering what our long term projects are like, take a look at some of our past adventures. The experience is always unique but rewarding. You can expect to be challenged constantly, given responsibility, and tasked with solving difficult problems. This project in particular will feel very much like a team sport, working together with your team to achieve a goal as our coaches help where they can.
