Inspiration
The ten-year journey Odysseus took, sailing his vessel to return home after the Trojan War.
What it does
This vessel is powered by motors driven by embedded firmware on a microcontroller, with the rowing motion controlled wirelessly via Bluetooth.
How we built it
We designed the hull(PLA) in SolidWorks and programmed an ESP32 in C to control a PWM motor driver(PCA9685PW) over an I2C bus while handling wireless commands via UART over Bluetooth Low Energy(BLE).
Challenges we ran into
Limited access to 3D printers because they were heavily occupied printing dragons, which forced us to adapt our fabrication timeline and get creative with prototyping.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
Designing, fabricating, and programming a buoyant, microcontroller-powered craft capable of executing coordinated rowing mechanics.
What we learned
How hull dimensions affect buoyancy and stability, how to configure and drive external PWM channels over I2C, and how to implement wireless UART communication over Bluetooth on the ESP32.
What's next for The Vessel
Making the journey from Troy to Ithaca.
