Year

2015

Team Size

Team

8

Project Type

Electro Mechanical Design

Organisation

University of Pennsylvania

RC Boat

A concept long range remote controlled 'spy boat'. This project was to build a boat capable of operating out of line of sight, and transmitting back live video footage.

Objectives + Challenges

Problem Statement

Design and manufacture a remote controlled boat capable of operating in the water.

Target Audience

Student & Teaching group

Collaboration

8 person teams. I took on the role of housing and hull design and manufacture primarily, with cross collaboration.

Goals

Constraints

  • Remote controllable water craft

  • Out of line of sight operation

  • Entirely built on site


  • $1,000

  • Part time team (we all had other classes)


Process + Approach

Methodology 

We took a split approach with the team after we decided on the core concept. Some would work on mechanical design and integration. Others would work on electronics and firmware.

Key Activities

  • Product design

  • Electro-mechanical packaging

  • Sourcing and manufacture

  • Trials & Testing


Tools & Technologies


Materials


  • Solidworks

  • SolidCAM

  • Keyshot

  • CNC milling

  • Manual milling

  • 3D Printing

  • Vacuum forming

  • Laser cutting

  • etc.

  • CFRP

  • 3D printing polymers

  • Acrylic

  • Brass


  • Aluminium

  • LiPo Batteries

  • Camera

  • Raspberry PI

  • Other electronics

Solutions, Deliverables + Outcomes

Final Output

Our RC boat succeeded in trials. We used a dual-push prop design for propulsion.

Key Features

Camera housing
CFRP hull
Dual axis freedom camera

Outcomes + Comments

Outcomes

The prototype functioned as intended but was plagued by waterproofing issues. We also overspecced the motors so had too much power for the boat to handle.

Lessons Learned

Waterproofing
Collaborative engineering
Hull design and balancing

Personal Commentary

This was a great project to culminate much of the design for manufacturing we learned over the course of the class. We learned a lot about designing for waterproofing especially. Too many holes and apertures were in the top plate, with poor sealing.
It was a good project for compact electro-mechanical integration.

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