Hello all,
It's been quite for a moment due to moving the electronics from the test setup to the boat itself and then sorting out what device goes where and sorting out the wiring accordingly. Then I started picking up the pace for making the boat ready for sea trials, now temporarily using a normal transmitter. I got really very close, only to be stopped by the N20 geared motors not being able to turn the azimuths at all, no matter how much grease I added. Stronger steering motors are underway but are yet to be delivered.
While working on the wiring and a piece of deck I found a multitude of reasons to replace the current hull for a new GRP hull, for which I at first wanted to use the current hull as a mold, but then realized that there is too much to correct on this hull in order for it to be used as such so I got myself some cheap but straight wood sheets and some foam and will have a new hull most likely this year. I will make a new power supply unit, since the current 1 is over crowded with wires making any form of maintenance pretty hard to do. The new power supply unit will have the wiring much more neatly provided using terminal blocks for much more ease in maintenance. Also, the new hull will have electrical PVC tubes glassed into it to house the wiring and giving a bit more strength to the hull at the same time.
Why I decided to make a new hull now? For the electronics side of the project (there are also various construction issues) I'm running into space issues which would be mostly solved by having the wiring pretty much attached to the side of the hull, rather then several cm's inwards in large cable trunks. The propulsion is also not laid out as efficiently as it could be, taking up much valuable space where I can least spare it. Add to this the quite chunky connectors for the I2C wiring due to the wires being connected in 1 place with quite a lot of heat shrink and there is a lot that I now know how to improve but I know will never get around doing in the current hull, even if only because of only being able to solve half way rather then all issues.
It's been quite for a moment due to moving the electronics from the test setup to the boat itself and then sorting out what device goes where and sorting out the wiring accordingly. Then I started picking up the pace for making the boat ready for sea trials, now temporarily using a normal transmitter. I got really very close, only to be stopped by the N20 geared motors not being able to turn the azimuths at all, no matter how much grease I added. Stronger steering motors are underway but are yet to be delivered.
While working on the wiring and a piece of deck I found a multitude of reasons to replace the current hull for a new GRP hull, for which I at first wanted to use the current hull as a mold, but then realized that there is too much to correct on this hull in order for it to be used as such so I got myself some cheap but straight wood sheets and some foam and will have a new hull most likely this year. I will make a new power supply unit, since the current 1 is over crowded with wires making any form of maintenance pretty hard to do. The new power supply unit will have the wiring much more neatly provided using terminal blocks for much more ease in maintenance. Also, the new hull will have electrical PVC tubes glassed into it to house the wiring and giving a bit more strength to the hull at the same time.
Why I decided to make a new hull now? For the electronics side of the project (there are also various construction issues) I'm running into space issues which would be mostly solved by having the wiring pretty much attached to the side of the hull, rather then several cm's inwards in large cable trunks. The propulsion is also not laid out as efficiently as it could be, taking up much valuable space where I can least spare it. Add to this the quite chunky connectors for the I2C wiring due to the wires being connected in 1 place with quite a lot of heat shrink and there is a lot that I now know how to improve but I know will never get around doing in the current hull, even if only because of only being able to solve half way rather then all issues.
Statistics: Posted by Tweety777 — Mon Jun 30, 2025 2:24 pm