Event: International Robotic Sailing Championships
Date: Monday, June 11, 9:30 a.m. – 11 a.m.
Location: Royal Vancouver Yacht Club
3811 Point Grey Rd., Vancouver
Visuals: High-tech, autonomous sailboats use GPS to navigate the race course. Visit: http://ubcsailbots.wordpress.com/
UBC engineering students take on the US Naval Academy (USNA), the defending champions in the 6th Annual International Robotic Sailing Championships.
Hosted by UBC and the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club, the June 11-14 robotic championship challenges students to design, build and compete with these complex craft.
[Media contact: UBC Senior Instructor Jon Mikkelsen, cell: 778.875.6558, email: mikk@mech.ubc.ca]
“All eyes will be on the battle between the US Navy team and our local UBC Engineering team,” says Senior Instructor Jon Mikkelsen who teaches naval architecture and fluid mechanics in the Faculty of Applied Science.
The US Navy is riding a three year winning streak but last year, UBC students came closer to unseating the Navy than any other team has so far.
Background
The 2012 Sailboat competition includes nine entries from around the world including USNA, Aberystwyth University in Wales, California Polytechnic University, and the Memorial University of Newfoundland.
Boats will sail off the starting line with a list of marks to round. They trim their sails via on board wind sensors and use GPS to navigate around the course. The longest race of the championship involves a 10-kilometer course with a six hour time limit.
The boats’ hull length is limited to 2 metres (6.5 ft.), the draft maximum is 1.5 metres (4.9 ft.) and total height of the boat cannot exceed five metres (16 ft.). They are equipped with two-way ship-to-shore telemetry and onboard micro-processing power.
The UBC team has received strong support from marine and engineering communities, including the UBC chapter of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club and the Calgary-based company Hemisphere GPS.
Related topics: Applied Science, engineering, International Robotic Sailing Championships, learning, Royal Vancouver Yacht Club, Sailbots, studentlife, Thunderbots, US Naval Academy
