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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.

22 of 42 comments (clear)

  1. 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.

  2. Re:KABLAM by zlives · · Score: 1

    or pedestrians

  3. Re:Sweet! by zlives · · Score: 1

    shipping containers are more profitable.

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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.

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  7. 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...

  8. 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
  9. 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.

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

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

    --
    tone
  11. 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.
  12. 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?
  13. 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.
  14. 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.
  15. 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.

  16. 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?

  17. 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