[757labs] New Project Idea - Mini Wave Glider

[Almost_There at COX.Net]

757 Labs Lost at Sea;

 >I wonder if it would be possible to print all the components

     It appears to me that the fins switch position by the water 
pushing on them as the structure is pulled up/down by the float on 
the surface.  Their travel is limited (i.e. +/- 45 degrees), and once 
they hit that limit any additional movement of the frame will thrust 
the frame forward.  I think the part in deep water has to be heavy 
(relative to the weight of the float) for it to work, it needs that 
weight to get power when it is "dropped" (the down stroke); so I 
don't think all of it could be printed, but maybe the fins and fin 
limiters could be printed, with the rest just (streamlined) dead weight.


 >Think there would be enough juice to power an APRS system, GPS, and brain?

     I should think so; GPS and "the brain" (with other sensors) 
should use minimal power; and the APRS only needs a low duty 
cycle.  For that matter, most everything could go to sleep in a low 
power mode between updates.  For testing we'd probably want once a 
minute updates from APRS, but once released for a long mission, once 
an hour should be plenty.


 >I would love to fit an acoustic recorder, bet we could get some 
interesting stuff.

     And a Camera pointing down (recover pictures when it comes 
home,) and a whole host of other sensors too (did somebody say 
"Side-Scan Sonar"?)  Gigs of storage memory is cheap now-a-days.


     I think this project is very "doable" and well with-in our 
means.  Who's on-board?


     Good Luck!
     Ken_S.

At 12:42 PM 10/17/2011, Trevor Lewis wrote:
>
>That is a damn cool project. Really graceful design. I wonder if it 
>would be possible to print all the components for a 1/4 scale 
>version of the glider, that would certainly make it affordable. At 
>smaller scales the design might have to be tweaked to increase its 
>odds of survival in heavy seas.
>
>At 1/4 scale the float is 52x15cm, the glider is 10x47.75cm and the 
>wings are 26.75cm. Still actually a pretty respectable size.
>
>Of course a scale version will also reduce the surface area for the 
>solar panels. Think there would be enough juice to power an APRS 
>system, GPS, and brain? I would love to be able to fit an acoustic 
>recorder in the system, bet we could get some interesting stuff.
>
>
>
>On Sat, Oct 15, 2011 at 7:52 PM, Almost_There at COX.Net 
><<mailto:Almost_There at cox.net>Almost_There at cox.net> wrote:
>
>757 Labs - Mini Wave Glider;
>
><http://757labs.org/wiki/Mini_Wave_Glider>http://757Labs.Org/wiki/Mini_Wave_Glider
>
>We should make a Mini Wave Glider; a scaled down version of Liquid 
>Robotics Autonomous Wave Glider (there's is roughly surfboard size, 
>we should make one 1/4 to 1/2 that size.)  Simply put, it converts 
>the up/down motion of waves to forward thrust (free 
>locomotion.)  Liquid Robotics has demonstrated long duration 
>missions of over 2500 miles and over 400 days without any 
>intervention.  We could start small and work our way up, but 
>ultimately have it autonomously cruse up & down the east coast (or 
>if we're really brave, cross the Atlantic.)
>
>* Solar power recharges batteries
>* Guided by GPS
>* Reports location and sensor data by APRS
>
>See...
><http://liquidr.com/>http://LiquidR.com/
>
>http://LiquidR.com/files/2011/05/WaveGlider_Web.pdf
>
><http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eATawqVOXWI>http://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=eATawqVOXWI
>
>http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7,371,136.PN.&OS=PN/7,371,136&RS=PN/7,371,136
>(You can copy patents, as long as you don't profit from it i.e. free 
>for personal use.)
>
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>If we knew what we were doing it wouldn't be research.
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