[RC Wing Sailboat Project] Conclusions
Originally Published Spring 2011 as part of my capstone engineering design project at Brown University
Meeting Requirements
Performance
- For apparent wind angles of 0–90deg (0 deg is in the direction of motion of the cart), the wing sail should create at least 50% more forward pulling force on the cart than the soft sail.
- The wing sail should be able to create forward pulling force on the cart at closer apparent wind angles than the soft sail.
These performance requirements were definitely met as shown by the final testing data on the previous page. The wing sail produced at least 50% more forward force than the soft sail at apparent wind angles of 90 degrees and less. It went above and beyond by producing around 100% more forward force at apparent wind angles of 65 degrees and less. It also still produced forward force at 30deg while the soft sail could not. By meeting these requirements I have a proven wing design that can be further iterated on for the future tasks of attaching it to the boat and creating the radio controlled system.
Accessibility
- Materials and construction techniques should be available to the normal person with basic shop skills.
- Plans to construct the wing sail should be easy to find and understand.
I believe that these requirements were also sufficiently met. The materials are easy to obtain, they can all be purchased cheaply at a hobby store, hardware store, or even online. The construction techniques can all be performed by a person with basic shop skills.With the ability to have the ribs laser cut, the hardest part of the wing assembly is the shrink wrapping, which just takes time and patience.
I have made the plans for this project easy to find and understand. The 3rd prototype page is a guide of how I put the wing together and some of the problems I faced and should be easy for someone constructing the wing to follow. The page has everything someone needs to build the wing, including dimensioned rib templates, laser cutting files, materials lists and instructions. These things are all open for anyone to access on the EN1000 website.
Future Goals
If more time was available these are the next steps that I would take to reach the overall goal of the project to build a working Radio Controlled wing sailed catamaran.
- Assemble Victor Wildcat Model
- Attach Wing to Boat
- Design and Build Radio controlled wing trimming system
Originally published at http://engin1000.pbworks.com.