Flipping the Hull

This week, the team took the hull off of the saw horses we made during our first week and cut some new lengths of wood to hold up the hull right side up. The fiberglass that we had laid down last week was completely dry, allowing us to flip the boat and also cut off the excess fiberglass fibers that were hanging off the top of the hull.

With the hull in this position, the team was able to get a better feel for where all of the individual sub systems will be located in our final design. We were able to discuss location of the solar panels, which will take up a large amount of space considering their size, the location of both the sprint and endurance motors, and the location of the driver. For now, the team has decided that the motors and motor controller will be placed on the starboard side while the driver will be on the port side. Although the team has not finalized the weight tables and distribution yet, we believe this will be the best way to assure a balanced hull.

The team also realized that we will need to purchase a longer shaft to connect to the motors. The shaft needs to come in at an 8 degree angle and right now, the one we have in inventory is 6' long. This only worked on previous years' design because the floor of the hulls were always flat. The hull we are constructing right now does not have a flat floor which means that when it is leveled, the shaft insert on the motor will be too high. To resolve this issue, we will need to move it forward towards the bow, meaning we will need a longer shaft.