SPRING 2025

This Spring, the UBC Sailbot team advanced POLARIS through a series of critical engineering milestones that solidified the foundation for our upcoming testing season.

The mechanical team, the started with the KEEL ASSEMBLY, a structural anchor essential for stability and performance. The team then completed SAIL DEMOLDING and TRIM-TAB DEREMELING, refining aerodynamic surfaces for accuracy and responsiveness. Progress continued with RIBS FABRICATION AND ASSEMBLY, followed by the RUDDER LAYUP, each step contributing to the hydrodynamic efficiency of the hull. We also received our SOLAR PANELS, enabling us to progress toward integrated energy systems. A key milestone was the PILOT BUILD OF SAIL WITHIN HULL, where we verified mechanical fitment ahead of final installation and concluded with PAINTING THE BOAT, transforming structural work into a finished, test-ready platform.

In parallel the electrical team completed the RESEARCH SENSOR FIRMWARE, developed a PROTOTYPE CANBUS COMMUNICATION LIBRARY, and began testing the SECOND-REVISION CONTROLLER PCBS, which forms the backbone of our electric architecture. The full vessel WIRING PLAN was finalized, and the team constructed the BATTERY CLOSURE and MONITORING ELECTRONICS, ensuring safe and reliable power management for extended missions.

The software team strengthened the project with featured developments. They implemented GEOGRAPHIC OBSTACLE DETECTION, enabling safer route planning in complex environments. Our simulation environments was upgraded with IMPROVED TEST CAPABILITIES USING MOCK SENSOR DATA, and the platform received new CSV/XLSX EXPORT TOOLS. The team resolved a long standing challenge by IMPLEMENTING CUSTOM PYTHON BINDINGS for a major open-source library. Finally they also ADDED SATELLITE DATA RECEIVER FUNCTIONALITY, a step towards dependable long-range communication.