This report documents the transition of n3m0 the autonomous boat, originally a monohull designed for long-ish range water-quality measuring missions, to n3m02 the autonomous catamaran. The mission was to add a depth sensor to the boat so that it could survey the harbor at Cal Maritime. The harbor silts in pretty quickly and it is an expensive and time-consuming process to dredge, so keeping tabs on the depth over time was the goal. A transom-mount NMEA-1083 speed/depth/temperature transducer was added to the boat, and a raspberry pi was used to log the position of the boat from the autopilot and the depth from the sensor. The data was uploaded in real time to github, which worked quite well! Eventually a second hull was added to allow differential thrust and improve maneuverability when running next to docks and moored vessels. Read on for more information!
Continue reading “n3m02 the Autonomous Boat: Depth Surveys”