Autonomous Sailbot "Raye"
The Challenge
UBC Sailbot has postponed the launch of our autonomous sailboat "Raye" to take more time in reworking and improving her to our standards to ensure that the team's objective is achieved with full certainty. Some tasks to take on in the Electrical sub-team are to rework internal wiring, improve battery boxes, and update existing firmware.
Overview
The initial launch date set for "Raye" was postponed due to desire for more testing, which created ambiguity for the team as it intends to autonomously sail over 4,000 km from the edge of Victoria, BC to Maui, Hawaii.
The Electrical sub-team is focused on making any improvements necessary to components relevant to our department and looks to do plenty of testing to ensure they are robust for the launch in August.
Wiring Architecture
I was tasked with working with the internal wiring of the boat. This involved properly labelling them, ensuring they were present, and replacing or improving their integrity if necessary.
The work was done with reference to the wiring functional arrangement diagram as shown on the right. The diagram provides the layout of the wires according to their type.
What I learned
The work with the wiring architecture has helped me learn about different types of wires and their purpose in the autonomous sailboat. It gave me insight on how important electrical wiring can be in a project as they help operate components and ensure their functions follow through.