Microtransat Autonomous Sailboat
Who we are?
The Dalhousie Microtransat Autonomous Sailboat team is a multi-disciplinary engineering team that ranges from second year all the way to graduate level students. Our team is then divided into four sub teams: Management, Electrical, Software, and Mechanical. We are designing and building a sustainable, small-scale, autonomous sailboat. We are doing so as part of an international competition known as the ‘Microtransat Challenge’, which tasks teams to create self-driving marine vessels capable of crossing the Atlantic Ocean. The project aims to further the field of unmanned marine robotics, which are seen as a key step in rendering oceans research and the offshore oil industry more safe, sustainable, and cost-effective. Aside from our sailboat project, we try to promote and educate students about the career opportunities in Ocean Engineering and Technology.
We are launching version 3.0, the Nautono, in August 2024
History
This student led design team is a continuation of a project originally overseen by Dalhousie faculty, who’s famous sailboat, the SeaLeon, set a record for the longest distance travelled by unmanned marine technology in 2018. Since then, the initiative has been taken over by students, who have been diligently analyzing the previous vessel, researching, and testing to design a new and improved boat that we believe has the potential to be the second autonomous marine vessel to ever complete a transatlantic journey.
Contact us!
Email: dalmast@dal.ca
Socials
Instagram: dalsailboat
Facebook: dalsailboat
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dalhousie-mast
Executives
- Software: Programming for autonomous navigation and data transmission.
- Electrical: Developing transmission and sensing systems to interface with software.
- Mechanical: Designing and building the sailboat platform to keep the systems functional throughout the voyage
- Management: Enabling the technical sub-teams through public outreach and communication.
