2022 - 2023
Iceberg ASV was founded in February 2022, and competed in the International RoboBoat Competition in March 2023 with their ASV, Lukey’s Boat. The team placed 8th overall, and was awarded with the Rookie of The Year award. With many lessons learned, Iceberg ASV intends on returning to RoboBoat 2024 with a competitive edge.
2022 - 2023 Blog:
RoboBoat 2023 Competition Updates
March 2023
The RoboBoat 2023 competition took place in Sarasota, Florida from March 22-28, 2023. Twenty-four teams from around the globe gathered to compete with their autonomous surface vehicles at the week-long event. Twelve of Iceberg ASV’s members were in attendance to compete with the team’s finalized autonomous surface vessel — Lukey’s Boat.
Iceberg ASV’s goals for this year was to gain competition experience and to bring a boat that could pass the safety inspection. Data collection was also prioritized to aid in our development for the 2024 competition. Iceberg ASV was successful in achieving, and in fact, exceeding these goals.
Out of 23 teams, Iceberg ASV was 9th to pass the safety inspection, which involved a demonstration of the remote and physical killswitch circuit. The team was also one of the first teams to qualify for finals, and scored points on three autonomous tasks in the finals. Iceberg ASV’s vessel, Lukey’s Boat, was the smallest in the competition, yet it outperformed other boats. It completed the fastest speed run during the qualifiers, and handled high winds and rough water without damage, while other boats under the same conditions capsized. Judges were impressed by Lukey’s Boat because of its simplistic design of foam hulls and 3D-printed parts. As a result, judges awarded Iceberg ASV with the RoboBoat Rookie of the Year Award.
In addition to the technical and competition portion of the event, RoboBoat created a collaborative environment where teams were encouraged to work together. Iceberg ASV received assistance from other teams configuring our flight controller. In turn, Iceberg ASV’s team members were also able to help another team with their emergency stop and remote control configuration. It was an added bonus to make new friends from all over the world and work with them to solve similar complex issues.
As undergraduate students, it is rare to have the opportunity to collaboratively design and build a complete team and system from scratch. Building an autonomous boat has developed our technical skills and project management skills in an interdisciplinary setting. This project has given the whole team a new outlook on our coursework as team members have been able to apply concepts learned in class to a real-world challenge. Iceberg ASV intends to grow its team and scope in 2024 - from a complete re-design of the ASV to recruitment, the team has big plans for the year ahead!
Introducing our ASV: Lukey’s Boat
Introducing our ASV: Lukey’s Boat, the boat Iceberg ASV will be competing with at RoboBoat 2024. Inspired by the popular Newfoundland & Labrador folk song, Lukey’s Boat, Iceberg ASV developed the fourth and final rendition of the autonomous surface vessel. This vessel was be the boat that was taken to the RoboNation RoboBoat competition. In terms of design, it is a simple but reliable vessel that allows flexibility to improve the team’s design for future projects. Lukey’s Boat has a strong control system design including a remote kill switch, communication channels, and power management. Lukey’s Boat relies on WayPoint and ROS for autonomous systems that involves mapping and localization environments to navigate through courses successfully.
January 2023
Design Updates: The Berg Boat
The Iceberg ASV team has been working hard to finalize the boat that they will be taking the to RoboNation RoboBoat 2023 competition in Sarasota, Florida. The design team has been working diligently to change and perfect the design. The following components have been updated.
The Size
Having the perfect size boat heading into the competition will give the Iceberg ASV team big bonus points as they are well-below the lowest weight bracket. Along with this, Newfoundland & Labrador is a fairly far distance from Florida. Therefore, travelling with a massive boat would not be ideal — especially because of the current frequency of lost luggage. The Iceberg ASV team plans on travelling with parts in their suitcases, as well as sending parts to Sarasota so they are there before they arrive.
Materials
As is this is boat that will be competing in the competition, the design team wants to used the best parts possible. There have been upgrades to a higher quality filament for 3-D printed parts. On previous boat designs, PLA was used. Now, the material PETG will be implemented. This material is branded to be used for “production quality,” as it is stronger, more durable, and also water resistant which will work perfectly at the competition.
The Design
The previous boot designs, Scrappy V1 and V2, had two “bridges” between the hulls. For The Berg Boat, instead of using two bridges, one larger one will be implemented. With one larger bridge, there is more real estate for placing sensors, and other electronics/equipment. As well, using one bridge allows increased stability which will allow the batteries, electrical package and thrusters to sit near the center of the boat.
To add, having the thrusters in the center of the AFT will increase maneuverability, allowing for quicker turning motions. As well, decreasing the volume, and giving the hulls a more boat-like share, instead of a block-shape, serves to decrease the block coefficient. This will decrease the resistance the hulls are expected to experience in the water.
December 2022
Iceberg ASV’s Testing Platform: The Berg Boat
October 2022
Iceberg ASV has been working hard to develop a stronger, stable, and more structurally sound autonomous surface vessel (ASV) to prepare for the RoboBoat competition hosted in Florida in March of 2023. The Iceberg ASV team have taken everything they learned from the previous two iterations (Scrappy V1 and Scrappy V2), gathered their knowledge, and put into the newest iteration — The Berg Boat.
New Electrical Components
The electrical team has been hard at work by adding new features to The Berg Boat. Firstly, the radio control system has been upgraded from Scrappy V1 and V2 on The Berg Boat. Previously, the control system has limited range and ability as it was recycled from an old toy. The new remote control system is a Flysky FS-I6X, which will be used at the transmitter. We also purchased a FS-iAI6B receiver which will be used to receive information from the partnered transmitter. This new combination is overall more accurate than the previous control system, and reaches a larger range.
There are also some improvements made to the control systems on The Berg Boat. Previously, the Iceberg ASV team used an Arduino microcontroller as a flight controller. The transceiver (toy remove controller) would communicate to the Arduino and from there the Arduino would analyze the signal and then control the power and direction of the thrusters. The Berg Boat will now use the Pixhawk 6C as its flight controller. This new addition grants the team to connect a GPS to determine where the boat is, and tell the boat where to go. This is a huge step as it is the beginning of the boat becoming autonomous! The Pixhawk 6C also has internal measurement units (IMUs) which communicates to the Pixhawk regarding how fast the boat is going, the direction, and other physical characteristics and accuracy of The Berg Boat. Finally, implementation of a new power distribution board (PDB) on The Berg Boat allows the Iceberg ASV team to be more efficient and effective when distributing power throughout the entire system. As well, the new PDB allows the team to monitor battery performance so they can work on the overall efficiency of their control systems.
New Design Components
The Iceberg ASV team will be using the same structure used for Scrappy V2 — including the same V2 hulls. However, there is a main difference between the previous two iterations and The Berg Boat. The Berg Boat will have new and improved stationary mounts for the thrusters. This will hopefully eliminate the issues discovered in the launch of Scrappy V2.
There is also a stronger electrical housing unit for The Berg Boat. In the previous two iterations, an old Tupperware container was used to house the electrical. The new structure being implemented will be more long-term, sustainable and modular. This structure will be used on The Berg Boat and all other future developments including the final boat that will be taken to the competition in Florida.
Overall, the Iceberg ASV team is angsty, excited and hopeful for the launch of The Berg Boat happening this weekend (October 23, 2022). The team is looking forward to discovering positives and negatives of this new iteration; including what went well, ad what will need to be improved for the future boat launching test days.