A quality webcam has been teared down and the bare PCB has been sealed in a laser-cut acrylic case. The result is a robust lightweight camera that will be plugged into a Linux computer. The computer will be turned on on-demand, having a full control over the camera like taking pictures in different sizes or…

One of the critical parts of the boat is the hatch. It can be opened in order to access the electronics and it has to be perfectly watertight. The hatch in the pictures, which is normally used on yachts, has been mounted on acrylic “aquarium” for testing. It was left underwater for 7 days and…

Rudder failure is a common issue in autonomous transatlantic attempts, therefore the rudder control requires a special attention. If we expect a rudder movement every 3 seconds for a duration of 6 months, that makes over 2.5 million cycles! That’s more than any servo manufacturer can guarantee (besides some very special and expensive products for…

As unbelievable as it may seem, all PCBs you have seen in the previous posts were manually assembled. The following pictures show step by step how prototyping is being done without expensive equipment.   Step 1: Preparation. Collecting all the parts and laying them out on the table for convenient access. This is the bare…

The boat controller is finished and it’s going to be tested on a hobby model boat. The Navigation Board revealed in the previous post is designed to be universal for any autonomous boat. In the picture below, it’s mounted on top of Expansion Board that will provide additional functions more specific to the boat. This…