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Robot Boat Sails Into History By Finishing Atlantic Crossing (apnews.com)

Posted by msmash on from the impressive-feat dept.

An anonymous reader writes: For the first time an autonomous sailing robot has completed the Microtransat Challenge by crossing the Atlantic from Newfoundland, Canada to Ireland. The Microtransat has been running since 2010 and has seen 23 previous entries all fail to make it across. The successful boat, SB Met was built by the Norwegian company Offshore Sensing AS and is only 2 metres (6.5 ft) long. It completed the crossing on August 26th, 79 days and 5000 km (3100 miles) of sailing after departing Newfoundland on June 7th. Further reading: A Fleet of Sailing Robots Sets Out To Quantify the Oceans.

42 comments

  1. Oceans 18 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It is a video game type of accomplishment.

  2. Hard to understand why this would be difficult by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There really aren't a lot of obstacles to deal with. Just point the boat and go.

    1. Re:Hard to understand why this would be difficult by arth1 · · Score: 4, Informative

      You're a landlubber, I take it?
      The Atlantic waves are quite an obstacle for a 2m boat.
      Even drifting tar (and garbage) is a problem when you're that small.

    2. Re:Hard to understand why this would be difficult by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      It is not that easy. If you just start sailing in a straight line, you will end up many kilometers above the sea, which is no good for a sail boat. If instead you point the boat straight at the finish line, you'll be under water for most of the trip. Again, not ideal for a sail boat. The earth is not flat, you know.

    3. Re:Hard to understand why this would be difficult by hey! · · Score: 3, Insightful

      There really aren't a lot of obstacles to deal with. Just point the boat and go.

      I imagine that's true, if you have an effectively unlimited energy, but the terms of this contest is to build a vehicle less than eight feet long that can cross the Atlantic.

      That's not a lot of room to stuff with batteries or diesel fuel, or to cover with solar panels. And that's the whole point. If you could make the vehicle a hundred feet long, this challenge would be expensive, but easy. By making the boat tiny, you make the challenge affordable, but tough.

      The race has two divisions, sail powered and unlimited, but it's hard to see what they had in mind for propulsion by having an unlimited division. Possibly some seawater-replenished fuel cell.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    4. Re:Hard to understand why this would be difficult by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 4, Funny

      I've found a FLAT EARTH DENIER!

      I bet you vaccinate your kids and don't believe in lizard people either.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    5. Re:Hard to understand why this would be difficult by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Probably something like this

      https://www.fastcompany.com/3016592/a-student-built-autonomous-drone-boat-is-crossing-the-atlantic-right-now-and-you-can-track-i

    6. Re:Hard to understand why this would be difficult by gnick · · Score: 1

      Flat Earth statistic: If gravity is caused by a flat earth accelerating at g, it'll reach c after about 1 year (~354 days).

      --
      He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
    7. Re:Hard to understand why this would be difficult by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > vehicle less than eight feet long that can cross the Atlantic.

      Been done before, twice, though it was manned: http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?451532-The-smallest-boat-ever-to-cross-the-Atlantic

      """I doubt that record will ever be beaten unless somebody is utterly mad."""

      And there yer go:

      https://www.yachtingworld.com/extraordinary-boats/undaunted-the-42-inch-yacht-still-hoping-to-become-the-smallest-boat-ever-to-cross-the-atlantic-107559

      Cap: becalmed - wow is there some AI running these?

    8. Re:Hard to understand why this would be difficult by amorsen · · Score: 1

      Flat Earth statistic: If gravity is caused by a flat earth accelerating at g, it'll reach c after about 1 year (~354 days).

      You are saying that as if it is a problem to hit C, like it would be impossible to continue after 354 days. This is not the case. As long as you only care about your own point of view and you're the one being accelerated, you can reach as many times C as you want (well, have fuel for).

      --
      Finally! A year of moderation! Ready for 2019?
    9. Re:Hard to understand why this would be difficult by gnick · · Score: 1

      You also have to decide what "at rest" means. A year accelerating at g will put you at your current velocity + c.

      --
      He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
    10. Re:Hard to understand why this would be difficult by lgw · · Score: 1

      I've found a FLAT EARTH DENIER!

      I bet you vaccinate your kids and don't believe in lizard people either.

      The earth is not flat - that's just silly. When we ent to the moon, and we did go to the moon, we discovered the terrifying truth. The MOON is flat!

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    11. Re: Hard to understand why this would be difficult by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Gesus Christ. Doesn't anyone learn any physics any more?

      Velocities are not additive, they just approximately are at speeds much smaller than C.

      Even if there was a continuous gravitational field at g, falling objects would never reach c.

    12. Re: Hard to understand why this would be difficult by lokedhs · · Score: 1

      Would a flat earther believe in relativity though? If simple geometry eludes them, what would they do when being faced with a Lorentz transformation?

    13. Re: Hard to understand why this would be difficult by apoc.famine · · Score: 1

      Set all of the coordinates in the second reference frame to equal to the first?

      A side effect is that it makes Lorentz transformations really easy to solve.

      --
      Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor
  3. Takes me away by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    To where I always wanted to be

  4. KABLAM by fluffernutter · · Score: 0

    No concrete barriers in the ocean?

    --
    Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    1. Re:KABLAM by zlives · · Score: 1

      or pedestrians

  5. A small achievement... by Bearhouse · · Score: 1

    Sure the Atlantic can be a tough place, but 79 days?

    Single-handed (human) record is 3 1/2 days...

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    1. Re:A small achievement... by careysub · · Score: 3, Informative

      This is a 2 meter vessel, not a large racing hull built to be fast (and nothing but fast). Using the page you link to, the most useful comparison would be the single-handed records, and the one from 1987 which was about 11.5 days was in a 26 meter hull! And this is the smallest vessel on the list. You are probably not going to get a 2 meter vessel to tear along at an average speed of 7.5 m/sec which would be needed for that 11.5 day crossing.

      --
      Starships were meant to fly, Hands up and touch the sky - Nicky Minaj
    2. Re:A small achievement... by careysub · · Score: 2

      Also note that the world speed record for a radio-controlled sailing vessel (which was also 2 meters long) is 157.65 km in 23 hours 42 min in the milder waters of the Mediterranean. At that world record speed in a small RC boat this challenge would have taken 32 days.

      So 79 days in a boat not controlled by a human, and not limited to a 24 hour period, in the open waters of the Atlantic is not so shabby. The speed made good over that whole journey is 40% of that 24 hour record.

      --
      Starships were meant to fly, Hands up and touch the sky - Nicky Minaj
    3. Re:A small achievement... by arth1 · · Score: 2

      Sure the Atlantic can be a tough place, but 79 days?

      The Mayflower took 66 days to cross, and was much bigger.

    4. Re:A small achievement... by Solandri · · Score: 2
      There have been a few sailboats in the 2 meter size range which have made the transatlantic crossing.
      • Hugo Vihlen aboard April Fool (1.8m) in 84 days in 1968, though technically he never finished since he was picked up by the USCG 6 miles offshore.
      • Tom MacNally aboard the Vera Hugh (1.64m) in 134 days in 1993.
      • Hugo Vihlen again aboard the Father's Day (1.62m) in 115 days in 1993.
      • Tom MacNally unsuccessfully attempted the trip again aboard a 1.19m craft in 1998. He passed away last year.

      Site with pictures of the vessels.

    5. Re:A small achievement... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are probably not going to get a 2 meter vessel to tear along at an average speed of 7.5 m/sec which would be needed for that 11.5 day crossing.

      A rough hull speed calculation is approx 1.34 times the square root of the water line ( in feet )
      so a 2 mtr vessle = ~6.5 feet

      SQR 6.5 = 2.54

      1.34 * 2.54 = ~3.4knots

      3.4 Knots = ~ 3.9 mile per hour

      As per TFS - distance was 3100 miles in 79 days

      3100 miles / ( 79 days x 24 h ) = ~1.63 miles per hour

      Not bad considering waves, current etc.

    6. Re:A small achievement... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A 2m boat has a hull speed of 3.4 kts {in knots = 1.34*sqrt(L) L in ft}, and it averaged 2.6 km/h=1.4 knots. So the little guy was at 41% the maximum for a displacement hull. You can go faster, but the energy requirement goes way up. The it's not such a problem for multihulls that balance the wind rolling moment with a wide hull, which means they don't produce as big a wave to ride over compared to ballasted monohull that use the lateral offset of their CG to balance the wind moment....but a monohull can be made so they are self righting; a handy feature for a little robot.

  6. La Mer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Somewhere beyond the sea
    Somewhere waiting for me
    My lover stands on golden sands
    And watches the ships that gofldkjwdlfeel compelled to mention that I am a tuna melt sandwich

    BEHOLD! I am a tuna melt sandwich! Tuna salad, melted cheese, toasted bread, yummity-yummity-yum-yum-yum!

    1. Re:La Mer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If there ever was a beauty product that could be considered truly legendary, it would be Crème de la Mer—not only for its cult cachet as one of the priciest, and most coveted, moisturizers in the world, but also because of its oft-related origin story: Max Huber, a German-born aerospace physicist, suffered severe burns in a lab explosion in the 1950s while working on a rocket stabilizer. He spent the next 12 years experimenting with Macrocystis pyrifera, a variety of kelp found in the ocean near his California home, until he finally created an elixir that healed his wounds and restored his skin to such lustrous health that all evidence of the accident was erased. Huber started selling his creation, christened Crème de la Mer (you know, Cream of the Sea), in 1965; after his death in 1991, Estée Lauder purchased the brand from Huber's daughter and turned it into the blockbuster luxury skin-care company we know today.

  7. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 0

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  8. Re:Sweet! by zlives · · Score: 1

    shipping containers are more profitable.

  9. And now the jokes begin... by Jharish · · Score: 1

    ..."I rowboat".

    https://www.theonion.com/i-rowboat-1819583491

    1. Re:And now the jokes begin... by starless · · Score: 1

      Followed later by Cory Doctorow
      http://bestsciencefictionstori...

  10. Rogue Wave Research by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I wonder how big the tallest waves theyâ(TM)ve measured are.

  11. Description wrong? Not autonomous? by starless · · Score: 4, Informative

    For the first time an autonomous sailing robot...

    From the linked article:
    https://www.apnews.com/f6d0e2a...

    The Sailbuoy competed in the “unmanned” class, which allows operators to change its course along the way. There’s a separate “autonomous” class that prohibits any such communication.

    1. Re: Description wrong? Not autonomous? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Glad you pointed out this error, it was as you say directed from shore ... occasionally.

      No fully autonomous Microtransat contestant has yet completed the crossing. Itâ(TM)s also worth pointing out that not only does the Atlantic have to be crossed but the contesting boat has to get within 25km of a predeclared coordinated on the specified finish line to succeed.
      As some have pointed out there are many hazards along the way but one of the most common one to end attempts so far have been fishing boats, to the extent that one that has made several attempts is named âTrawler Baitâ(TM).

  12. So you crossed the sea, Columbot by DulcetTone · · Score: 1

    Don't forget that indigenous robots have rights, too.

    --
    tone
  13. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 0

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  14. Bottles with corks have traversed the Atlantic by aberglas · · Score: 1

    Being small means relative high strength. A solid two meter boat should indestructible by waves. No need to keep a human alive, nor to go very fast. A very basic, fixed, small but strong sail would do.

    Ice bergs could be a problem. Surely better to start further south. Longer but safer. Also need to stay out of shipping lanes.

    I think this could be done without a computer. Just a magnetic compass controlling a rudder. Occasionally it would be blown backwards but no big deal. No need to worry about points of sail if not in a hurry. The hard part would be to know when it arrived, and where. Not easy to find a 2m craft in an ocean.

    1. Re:Bottles with corks have traversed the Atlantic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are strong currents at the surface of the North Atlantic. You need to overcome those currents, so you can't be too slow.