Issuu

DECEMBER 2019 -NEWSLETTER

Colophon Publication Técnico Solar Boat (TSB) December 2019

Photography Yatch Club Monaco, TSB

Information Associação TSB - Técnico Solar Boat Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisboa +351 21 841 9506 www.tecnicosolarboat.tecnico.ulisboa.pt

SHORT MONACO DIARIES 2019

TÉCNICO SOLAR BOAT

TEAM AT Dinis Rodrigues

Basile Belime Sebastião Beirão João Cruz David Mendes João Pedro Silva João Pedro Novo Luís Rodriguez Gonçalo Santos Alexandre Gonçalves João Maia Robin Tomaz Tiago Silva João Domingues Francisco Nery Guilherme RothBart 4

TÃ‰CNICO SOLAR BOAT

MONACO

TĂ‰CNICO SOLAR BOAT

DAY 0/ DAY 1 29/06- The plan was to leave by midnight so we starded packing around 5 pm, the adventure was about to start and one could feel it in the air.

30/06- As the clock hit midnight we realised we had to do some f inal f ixes in the trailer lights as there was a bad connection in the socket of the pulling car, which f rom now on we'll refer to as "C8".

Unfortunately this 30/40 min process lead to the drainning of the C8's battery to a minimum of charge- it wouldn't start. After some runs trying to push start it - team building as Dinis would say - , it f inally came back to life.

Not the most ensuring start to a plus 3600km journey so we decided to call assistance to check if we needed to replace the battery or not, after some deliberation, and keeping in my mind that the battery would be charging throughout the journey, we opted for the latter.

TĂ‰CNICO SOLAR BOAT

Just as the f irst sun rays perced through the sky the temperature checking light turns on, we buy some coolant, stop for a bit and then get back on the road. After some hours the light turns on again, we start to suspect of a leak but we're now halfway, almost in Zaragoza, so f illing up the coolant and scheduling more stops seems like a cheaper and more viable option for the reason that follow: a car repair shop might not solve the problem, it was sunday and it could take days f ixing it. By hour 17 ( since the start) our worst fear becomes true, C8 gives up on us.

Let the brainstorming begin... 01/07- It's 7 am when a car with a tow hitch arrives f rom Portugal- Let's go!!

TĂ‰CNICO SOLAR BOAT

DAY 2 The clock hits 3 am when we arrive in Monaco completely exhausted though still energized enough to be mesmerized by this utopian city, many of the team members hadn't been there before. Even though we were in desperate need of rest we decided to take the boat and all of its components out of the trailer and placed them in our designated paddock.

Afterwards

went to a campsite in the neighbour city of Ventimiglia in Italy where we were staying

for

the

rest of the competition.

By 7 am the most essential team-members were at the paddock assembling the electric boxes, collumn, propeller and so on.

TĂ‰CNICO SOLAR BOAT

DAY 3 9 am -> Technical Inspections of SR02 were performed as well as a battery discharge test (that may have damaged some cells by overdischarging them)

4.30 pm-> At the meeting

room

inside

Yatch

the

Club de Monaco the

competition

off icialy with

started welcome

brief ing. The pressure was on, all the hours spent working on this prototype were about to be tested in the following days.

5 pm -> The Tech Talks - compulsory presentation that every team of every class has to do. Only there we could realise in extent the innovations that each team had done on their boat and why they opted to do so.

TĂ‰CNICO SOLAR BOAT

DAY 4 9 am -> Compulsory Pilots Brief ing : Robin and SebastiĂŁo our designated pilots had to attend this brief ing where they were given the guiding points for the qualifying race in the afternoon as well as all the security measures they had to obly.

10 am -> As a ritual

Monaco's

SEBC

always

starts

with

parade

where

every

single

boat competing is in the water.

2.30 pm -> Qualifying Race: The f irst test in Monaco's water. The aim of this event is to complete a course of approximately 0.5 nautical miles in the least amount of time possible. The results will be used to determine the starting order of the Slalom race and put up the Charts for the Championship Race. SR02 got f irst place in its class with a time of 2:12.93 minutes against a second best in class of 2:29.60 min.

TĂ‰CNICO SOLAR BOAT

DAY 5 8 am -> Compulsory Pilots Brief ing.

9 am -> Fleet Race: Course of approximately 0.5 nautical miles in length after a mass fleet start. The winner of each class will be the one that makes the most laps in the designated time - 3 hours, this year. SR02 got a through the roof f irst place with an astounding 57 laps!!! the most of its class (by 9 laps) and the most of all other classes (keep in mind other classes can store more energy and have more solar cells area, by 3 laps)! - Kings of the endurance race as some would say.

3 pm -> Speed Race: Boats

were

clocked

over a distance of 1/8th of a nautical mile after a running start of 100 meters. TSB got 3 rd place in its class with a speed of 22.63 km/h - a lot of room for improvment. We spent the night trying to f igure out how to draw more power.

TĂ‰CNICO SOLAR BOAT

DAY 6 9 am -> Compulsory Pilots Brief ing.

10 am -> Slalom Race: One by one, after a running start, the boats completed a timed run on a slalom course (approx. 0.2 nautical miles). A 5 seconds penalty was added for every mistake made while completing the course. After 3 mistakes, the run would be classed as incomplete. The winner in each Class was the boat completing the course in the quickest time recorded by the Organiser.

SR02 got 4 th place with a time of 1:34.13 min.

2 pm -> Championship Race: Boats, two by two per Class starting f rom standstill, competed on the match-race course of approximately 0.1 nautical miles long. The championship charts were established based on the Qualifying Race results. SR02 got 2nd place by defeating AGH f rom Poland and losing to Sunflare, a dutch team.

TĂ‰CNICO SOLAR BOAT

5 pm -> TSB's Tech Talk: At last it was our turn to present SR02 to the other teams. Our team leader Dinis Rodrigues did a great job showing what TSB had developed - its dual motor - as well as all the technical details taken into account when designing and building the boat.

8 pm -> Prize-giving and closing dinner:

TSB team mem-

bers went on stage to receive 2nd place in its class - A Class (Solar Class). The best result by far we've ever received! To f inish off the competition on a high note we had a closing dinner in YCM top floor that culminated in a party with TSB openning the dance floor, as usual.

TĂ‰CNICO SOLAR BOAT

HALL OF FAME- THE PILOT We couldn't end this newsletter without praising our pilot that made it all possible. Well done Robin! (Next year's boat will have a horn so you don't damage your voice shouting the other pilots to move over)

TÉCNICO SOLAR BOAT

SPECIAL MENTIONS None of this could be possible without the support of our fans among who the following ones deserve a special mention:

- Professor Paulo José da Costa Branco, in the name of Área Científ ica

de Energia do Departamento de Engenharia Eletrotécnica e de Computadores , who has helped us with its expertise and knowledge.

- Our non-anonimous backers in the solar panels crowdfunding:

- Mr. Alexandre Soveral Martins

- Mr. Pedro Silva

TÃ‰CNICO SOLAR BOAT