You probably reached this "Blog10" page from the Snoopy page, or the Design of Snoopy Sloop page . If not, click on a link to know more. Tap or Click on that photo on the right: Snoopy getting close to being ready - including being marked with a "Waterline" ;-)

Each "blog" page describes detailed work preparing for the next Atlantic Attempt. i.e. covering a period in the region of a year: less if more than one attempt is made. More if we miss a year, such as 2023. The Blog pages were started after the first 2012 Attempt, where Snoopy's boat was lost. All later attempts were with the same boat, sometimes after major repairs. The blogs provide online "Engineering Notebooks", providing a day-by-day account of repairs, changes, and testing: mostly testing.

• Blog describing background experimental work from 2008 until now.
• BlogX Index to the Robot Boat Blog pages.
• Blog1 from February 2013 until Boat9's October 2013 Atlantic Attempt.
• Blog2 from October 2013 until Boat10's September 2014 Atlantic Attempt.
• Blog3 from Boat10's September 2014 Atlantic Attempt, until the good November 2014 Attempt.
• Blog4 from Boat10's November 2014 Atlantic Attempt, until the March 2015 Attempt.
• Blog5 from Boat10's March 2015 Atlantic Attempt, until the October 2016 Attempt.
• Blog6a" Blog6 Analysis of the October 2016 Attempt (moved from Blog6).
• Blog6" from the October 2016 Attempt until that on 15th December 2017.
• Blog7" from December 2017 until after the June 2019 Attempt.
• Blog8" from after the June 2019 Attempt until the next - in 2022.
• Blog9" Snoopy's 2022 Trans-Atlantic Attempt.
• This "Blog10" - information, as available, for the 2024 Trans-Atlantic Attempt, including preparing Snoopy's Robot Boat.
• RB12Blog" How we built Boat 12 from Eric's IOM, including the Picaxe 28X2 Autopilot, and Eric's Page.

These blog pages are mostly about numerous repairs to the boat, results from "BRAY LAKE TESTS", or 24/7 reliability testing on Bray Lake. i.e. Snoopy sailing back and forth over a 24/7 waypoint in "Snoopy Corner". This is typically for several weeks, in all weather, including gale force winds. Sometimes, a few things happened which resulted in amusing pictures or stories, such as countering human-intervention, or testing the wheels for Snoopy's trolly. Click on the pictures either side for larger versions, or visit earlier blogs above. BlogX, the "blog of experiments", shows ideas and products, some of which may appear in future boats.

Snoopy's August 2022 attempt to cross the Atlantic and earlier Camper Recce ...

1. Introduction from Robin Lovelock in Sunninghill ...

This "Blog10" page was started on 22nd April 2023, and the Youtube video on the right was uploaded the day before. There is a glimpse of Snoopy's boat at the start, that survived the 2022 Atlantic Attempt and you will see the design of the boat has not changed since Snoopy's first attempt in 2012. The 2012 Attempt was after 4 years of prototyping, design changes, and TESTING ;

This "Blog10" page will show events in the order they happened, so the latest will be near the end. e.g. deciding what work is needed on Snoopy's boat(s); doing the work; testing; then - hopefully - the 2024 Atlantic Attempt. Robin and all of Team-Joker were too busy with more important things, for the boat to be ready in 2023.

Blog10 follows on from Blog9 - the 2022 Atlantic Attempt itself :-) Why did Snoopy's 2022 Attempt fail ? The boat lost it's rudder, and water got in. Below is from the Snoopy page ...

Robin is now sure that Snoopy failed because he forgot to file a flat on the steel rod fixed to the rudder. Stupid boy Robin ! :-) This is needed so that the grub screw, in the rudder lever, can prevent it working loose. The result, in rough seas, would have been the rudder working loose, sliding out of the boat, allowing some sea water to come into the waterproof box at the back. The result of even a small amount of salt water, is electrical leakage and loss of battery power. Hence the SPOT Trace Satcoms failing - and probably everything else ! Click or Tap on that image of the rudder lever, on left, to see repairs in Blog10 . <- no need to Tap or Click - you are on Blog10 now :-)

2. Work on Snoopy's Robot Boat to prepare for 2023 - but now 2024 - Trans-Atlantic Attempt ...

As a start, on deciding what work to be done first, Tap or Click on these photos from the Snoopy page, showing the boat near Robin's front door. This video shows progress, and may help to give a "heads up" on work in the coming weeks and months. e.g. Gotop. I'll include the email sent to ROBINLOVELOCKSFRIENDS Google Group.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33xB5KeyVyQ&t=106s is a 16 minute rough cut photo trail and video clips, shot on Saturday 22nd April 2023. Parts of the video will be of interest to different people, around the World, for different reasons. e.g. Snoopy's Trans-Atlantic Robot boat, and work started on investigating repairs and changes before the 2023 Attempt. You will see examples of GPS Trackers, and tracking, including SPOT Satcomms and low cost, but advanced trackers from China. These trackers were tested on June & Robin's trip to, and around, Warnham Park Gardens, open for the National Garden Scheme (NGS) and Blood Cancer charities. They met interesting guys, including charity workers, gardeners, and members of the Lucas family, who have owned the estate for generations. Yes, there is lots of "Garden Project" work, including Forts built for their "Guard cats", Tody and Bentley :-) There is the 3D replay of their walk around the garden near the end, followed by them being greeted by cats Tody and Bentley. This day will be remebered by many as the one where Barry Humphries past away. There are glimpses of other things, that Robin can explain to whoever needs to know ;-) That's the Youtube description. I expect the automatic subtitles with translation will appear soon. Take Care :-) Robin www.gpss.co.uk .

an extra Gotop tracker ? ...

Tap or Click on pictures below to expand. From left to right: 1) from that video above; 2) from the Gotop tracking page - more facilities than needed by many; 3) June's trip to play tennis, with a Gotop tracker in her car K555GPS :-) Robin is hoping Gotop can show how their website can be used to provide a simple link, that can be made public, to show the live position, and perhaps recent track, of a tracker, like that on the right.

Thanks to Allan at Gotop for explaining how to provide simple tracking links:
Gotop1 in Robin's Merc C4GPS : https://110track.com/index.php?su=7EDFBF3AA6C046030D797D767E69011B
Gotop2 in June's Merc K555GPS : https://110track.com/index.php?su=EDF901FEF5E7B32275134DDF6DAB98CC

Friday 19th May 2023: Robin now has a third Gotop Solar tracker for tests - which continue, and LOTS of other things to do :-)
Allan continues to give great support. e.g. sending an SMS (text) like FREQ,123456,120 sets reporting rate to 120 seconds = 2 minutes, reducing power consumption, compared with the default 30 seconds ( FREQ,123456,30 ). For Robot Boats, one can set it to a very slow, low power, rate, Such as every hour ( FREQ,123456,3600 ), but switch it to faster, if near, rocks, a fishing vessel, or doing a Bray Lake Test ;-) Also detailed documentation is here . Tap or click to expand these photos, starting with checking the battery voltage, guessing (correctly) what pins to check :-)

the lost rudder must be replaced ...

Tuesday 25th April 2023: No point in changing that rudder design - just a matter of doing it properly ! e.g. filing that flat on the shaft ! BUT, before that, I need to look at old photos and get the outline correct. e.g. roughly same area in front of and behind shaft - so buffeting waves don't make a turning torque strain on servo. Also, so area between hull and top of rudder not likely to trap stuff like weed or debris.

I'll probably use same or similar materials. e.g. plywood to cut out rudder shape, with slot for (stainless?) steel shaft from top, maybe halfway down. Solder a rectangle of brass plate to shaft, that will be "Fastglassed" to the plywood rudder. i.e. whole rudder will be covered in "Davids fastglas" resin and maybe some fibreglass.

This is where a drawing, or rudder spare, would have helped: detailed design of the replacement rudder assembly ! :-)

Tap or Click to expand that image of the rudder, taken from a frame about 18:40 into the Snoopy's 2022 Atlantic Attempt video on the Blog9 page. The box of electronics give an idea of scale. The box is about 4" / 10cm high, and about 8" / 20cm along the boat. So, Robin reckons the rudder is about 6" / 15cm wide, and about 6" / 15cm high. The details of the (stainless?) steel rudder shaft are easier to determine - by looking at what we have of Snoopy Sloop 11 - all of it - it was only the rudder that went missing ! :-) But for the reader here, the top of the rudder shaft is about 1cm from the lid of the box, and must pass into the rudder, leaving a gap of perhaps 1cm, to the top of the rudder, then perhaps halfway down into the rudder: 7cm. The brass tube that the steel shaft slides into, is about 7" / 18cm from top to where it exits from the hull. i.e. a piece of steel shaft a total of maybe < 35cm / 14" long. Can be confirmed as parts are constructed ;-)

Thursday 27th April 2023:Photos gathered for more detail on progress to be reported here. e.g. materials for the new rudder assembly; new 2300 mAH Ni MHd Overlander battery packs; spares of trusted Acoms AS-17 servos used for rudder. Typical MTBF 2 to 3 months. Testing of GPS trackers, including SPOT and Gotop.

Friday 28th April 2023:Work started on rudder shaft. Photos below, from Blog8 , and boat itself, invaluable for rudder geometry. e.g. orientation of the rudder arm, flat filed on shaft, and rudder direction - BEFORE soldering plate onto shaft. Shaft is now 33cm / 13" long. Later photos will make clearer :-)

Monday 1st May 2023: Snoopy Sloop 10 now has a rudder ! See how it was made.

Play the "Last Days of April" video on the right or www.youtube.com/embed/udwsBLUN0Bc . The video has lots of other things, but you can use the Youtube time bar to peruse content and play bits of interest.

Also, progress is being made on testing of the replacement SPOT Trace Satcomms tracker, and collection of bits, such as NiMhd batteries, to replace those spoilt by sea water. Other products that might be exploited can also be seen. e.g. the low cost solar-powered Gotop trackers ( when in range of shore ), and software such as that used to replay a GPS track in 3D. e.g. Bray Lake Tests, or even the GPS track from an Atlantic Attempt ?

Wednesday 3rd May 2023: Play the video on the left or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvzQmvKk1tA . International Perfection Snow White paint, used and proven on Snoopy's Robot boats for years. It is an 18.5 minute rough cut video, with two photo trails: 1) that of Tuesday 2nd May; 2) Wednesday 3rd May 2023. Much of 2) is not directly relevant to Snoopy's Robot Boat, but topics overlap. e.g. testing of trackers, and cameras used to record progress.

Tuesday 9th May 2023: Tap or Click on the images on the right, to expand or play the video on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=std16HYBPfY . The video explains how Snoopy's old autopilot system can be used to test the total servo-rudder system, when the damaged servo is replaced by a new one. The video says a lot more relevant to robot boats ;-)

Saturday 13th May 2023: Play the video on the left to see detail of work on the boat near the start, and the end. Parts of the long photo trails show "the bigger picture", including testing of trackers and tools such as prediction of weather.

Playing the Youtube video, to check automatic subtitles ( with translation into any language ), Robin questioned his words about the autopilot startup sequence, VERY relevant to rudder steering geometry. e.g. was it correct ? Remember we (once ?) used a servo-reverser. Luckily the Text-To-Speech comentry, steering the boat towards Bray Lake Waypoint "Alpha", speaks things like "Right" or "Left", when the rudder should turn that way. Robin is checking other boats like Snoopy Sloop 4 to see what they do. This reinforces the importance of correct design documentation, and value in having old photos - AND of have got the boat back - however badly damaged ! Fortunately, most of the boat seems OK, but obviously needs attention :-)

Tap or Click on photos below to expand and see detail: batteries and Picaxe 28X2 to replace ! Batteries ordered OK. Ready assembled Picaxe 28X2 ?

Buzby on the Picaxe Forum pointed Robin to www.picaxestore.com/picaxe/picaxe-chips/picaxe-modules/axe201 which looked like the same module - so Robin ordered two, for delivery by First Class Post. Even if Robin does not have the time to check it out with his software, maybe someone else can ;-)

Robin just posted this on the Picaxe Forum: I think the latest version of my Picaxe Autopilot is version "Romeo" on www.gpss.co.uk/ap28x2r.bas .
Do not expect any support for this old program - but if it works, you can use it ;-)

Saturday 20th May 2023: Tap or Click on these pictures below, to expand and see the detail. The Picaxe 28X2 based Autopilot is an important part of Snoopy's Robot Boat, including making sure the rudder geometry is correct, when using the version of Autopilot program that has been well tested, and not changed for years. See Robin's Robot Boat Design Page . Robin found these old pictures on his web site, when deciding what name to give the screen shot from good advice received from the Picaxe Forum.

Sunday 21st May 2023: Below is a picture from Flenser on the Active Pixaxe Forum . Then his correction. Same ? Thanks Guys :-) Few will play this 55 minute video :-)

Thursday 22nd June 2923: Minor breakthrough: Robin finds a working Picaxe 28X2 Autopilot, and gives it a "Tea Tray Test" between his front door and the lampost. NO - he does not intend to put this into Snoopy's boat - it is too valuable for that. It can act as a "Reference System" for comparison with any we, or others, build, based upon whatever components we are able to find and buy. Robin plans to get at least a second working, before he risks downloading the very latest software into this one. Latest Software ? That's version "Romeo" - a few months after this, loaded with version "PaPa" - 21st July 2017 at 5:40pm - or at least, that's what it speaks on startup :-)

The following extract is near the end of Snoopy's Robot Boat "Design" page ... QUOTE: Robin believes the latest version of the Picaxe 28X2 based autopilot software, used in Snoopy's Robot boats since December 2017, was version "Romeo", and the Picaxe 28X2 source code is here - in ap28x2r.bas is here .
When downloaded, and opened with a simple text editor, like Notepad, the first few lines should be those below ...
'AP28X2R.BAS 01Dec17 "Romeo" of Snoopy's Picaxe 28X2 Autopilot Software. (c) Robin Lovelock www.GPSS.co.uk
'AP28X2R.BAS 06Dec17 "Romeo" rudder gearing constant MAXDERR = 30 to 60 after today's test
'AP28X2R.BAS 01Dec17 "Romeo" Only change is rudder gearing constant MAXDERR = 120 to 30
'based on
'AP28X2Q.BAS 31Jul17 "Quebec" Correct cross trackj error by comparing W24 CBWP Course Between Way Points
'AP28X2P.BAS 16Jul17 "Papa" remove spoken range bug when ~ 100m E-W heard on 12th July 17.
etc, etc ...
UNQUOTE.

Friday 23rd June 2023: This Youtube video, from 31st October 2021, was invaluable to see that the most recent version was "Romeo" and that I need to reverse the rudder geometry. i.e. on startup, the Autopilot does a Left-Centre-Right-Centre movement of the rudder.

This was confirmed, looking at the rusty remains of the boat's electronics: Robin found a Turnigy Servo Reverser, between the Picaxe 28X2 computer board and the rudder servo. Searching on the Net I found that some suppliers had discontinued this product, but I found and ordered TWO from Greensmodels, at 19.45 GBP for fast delivery. I also found and ordered a cheaper product from China: FIVE at 10.14 GBP for delivery by 4th July 2023. This should be enough spared for several years of Snoopy's Robot Boats :-)

Of course, we could change the steering geometry, to remove the need for a servo reverser - another component that might fail. But, on this Snoopy Sloop 10, Robin will stick to the same, proven, design ;-)

Wednesday 28th June 2023: Other more important things have delayed work on Snoopy's boat, but good progress made. Servo reversers arrived, and one was soon plugged in, and - of course - worked :-) More importantly, today Robin found an old "Maplins" plastic bag, full of needed electronics bits, such as circuit card, diodes, resistors, etc, etc. The old Picaxe 28X2 module, seen in the low left of this photo, will make it so much easier, as a reference, when soldering the module, then pins, resistors, etc - into the right places. THEN we can try loading the Autopilot software into it. But before that, Robin used an old multi-meter to check the current drawn by the total 5v NiMHd battery->GPS->Picaxe 28X2 Module-> Servo reverser->Acoms AS17 Servo. The current drawn seemed a little more than earlier blog notes, and schoolboy arithmetic can be used to make sure our duplicated solar power system is adequate. It obviously depends on what part of the year, such as if in Summer, Autumn, or Winter. Note that if the system runs flat, it should start up again when it gets enough light to recharge batteries. Rough figures of current drawn are as follows: 70mA peaking to 120mA when moving servo. So average of 80mA current drawn ? The old Snoopy Robot Boat Design page speaks of < 40 or 50mA. Most school kids should be able to calculate how many hours and days batteries should last. e.g. 4 x 2,400 mAH batteries = 9,600 mAH capacity divided by 80 mA -> 120 hours / 24 = 5 days ? BUT, with enough average light ( not just sunlight ), it MIGHT not run flat at all. Others can check my references, arithmetic, or might even test the same components themselves ;-)

Sunday 27th August 2023: VERY LITTLE PROGRESS during July and August. What little time Robin spent working on things, like replacement ( and spares for ) the Picaxe 28X2 Autopilot, and replament of the I-Got GPS Logger, was mostly him making mistakes ( with nobody to check his work ) - but we learn from our ( and other people's ) mistakes. Few others will wish to search for the relevant events on Robin's Youtube Channel "photo trails" ;-)

BUT, these very useful extracts from Blogs were invaluable on two topics: a suitable replacement of the I-GotU GPS logger, and - more important - Robin's shifting his time to rebuilding of the Snoopy Sloop 11 hull, including adding the new replacent solar panels.

Recent pictures and information may be added in due course, but first here are extracts from blogs in 2019 ...

From near the end of Blogx - Experimental Work POSSIBLE REPLACEMENT OF I-GOTU BY GT-730FL-S GPS LOGGER ? ...
QUOTE
Saturday 2nd March 2019: Maybe Boat 13 can assist testing of Boat 11's SPOT Trace solar power supply on 24/7 duty ? More in due course. Priority "research" is in support of Snoopy Sloop 11, before this year's Atlantic Attempt. See end of Blog7 , including work on the I-GotU GPS Logger, in All Snoopy's boats since the first 2012 Attempt. Click on pictures to enlarge. Robin is testing a more recent product: the GT-730FL-S, having purchased two from Germany. This product MAY be a better long term solution than the home built GPS Loggers for Bray Lake Tests, or even - after software work and lots of testing - a longer term replacement of the I-gotU. But not yet: the I-GotU has worked well for years and has been "proven in Battle" - see Snoopy's 2015 Attempt :-)

Sunday 27th August 2023:I've purchased several GT-730FL-S GPS Loggers, but wasted a lot of time trying to get them to work. I've not yet managed to find those that I got in 2019, that worked so well. If I do find them, it will provide the solution - but also rule out my having purchased a faulty batch in 2023 ;-)

So now onto work in progress - where progress IS being made - helped by Blog7 - Experimental Work REPLACEMENT OF OLD SOLAR PANELS ...
e.g. Where exactly to put the panels ? Below was invaluable. No need for Duck Tape this time ... so far ;-)
QUOTE

Thursday 26th February 2019: Above photo shows boat after minor work on replacing string. There are now extra lower mast side stays. knots are smeared with silicon sealant.
Friday 1st March 2019: Watching the video of Snoopy Sloop 11 being 24/7 tested, I was reminded that the Navigation Light was not working. At the time I thought the two small solar panels had let the 3xAA NiMH battery go flat. Yesterday I discovered that there was corrosion on the small circuit I'd built to switch off the lamp in daylight. I've kept the old one, in case Peter or Dick want to test their electronics skills :-) This time I covered the board in Fastglass resin, before assembling with plenty of Wickes Silican Sealant. I've also taken more care with the two monitoring and charging terminals, following Peter alerting me to the significant power drainage through salt water. Click on photos below to enlarge or play. They show work on SPOT Trace solar power supply, to be tested before putting back in boat 11. Robin's car is here :-)
Saturday 2nd March 2019: See BlogX for supporting experimental work such as new GT-730FL-S GPS Logger and Boat 13. This could be be used on 24/7 at Bray Lake, to test the SPOT Trace solar power supply with identical solar panel, batteries, but SpotT2 . Lateral thinking is being applied, including strapping the SPOT sub-system onto sheep :-)

UNQUOTE.
Sunday 27th August 2023: Above was invaluable, and four large solar panels are now on Snoopy Sloop 11. Next is wiring through to NiMHd batteries in box.

2nd January 2024: Below, on left, is the photo taken on 25th October 2023, of Robin with Sloopy Sloop 11. The photo seemed have got lost from this "Blog10" page, but Robin saw it in our 2023 Christmas Newsletter :-) As might have been mentioned before, a lot of nitty-gritty detail may be tucked away on those "Rough Cut Photo Trail videos" on www.youtube.com/user/RobinLovelock/videos - if you have the patience to look :-)

Tap or Click on the picture to expand. Perhaps I should simply insert the relevant section from the 2023 newsletter below ... QUOTE

Robin has been able to do a LITTLE bit of work on Snoopy's Robot Boat, Snoopy Sloop 11, that survived 6 weeks at sea last year, before miraculously sailing into Rottingdean, east of Brighton, so many miles from where it was last seen, west of Weymouth. This picture, from Blog10 - linked from the Snoopy page, shows much of the basic work on the boat completed, by the end of October 2023. i.e. hull, sails, rudder, etc. BUT much more remains to be done, if and when Robin has help to at least check his work, such as soldering :-)

3rd July 2024:Waterline marked in red on photo, after tests in Snoopy's "Test Tank" :-)

The video on the right, of Snoopy's autpilot being given a "Tea Tray Test", shows what most will consider the most complicated part of Snoopy's Robot Boats - the GPS Autopilot, which includes GPS, computer, and a servo to move the rudder and steer the boat.

This stuff has not been changed for years and is well tested. The stuff that failed are simple things, like a rudder breaking off, due to being made of carbon fibre rod instead of steel, or what happened last year: the rudder fell out, then water got in, because Robin had not fixed it in properley. LOTS of other simple things to check - like dry soldered joints ! :-)

On Monday 22nd May 2023, Robin enjoyed a trip down to Chesil Beach, near Weymouth, to meet Phil Smith, and see "Phil's Boat" - even smaller than Snoopy's ! Dick was kind enough to pick Robin up from Sunninghill, and we enjoyed the conversations on the trip. We particularly enjoyed meeting Phil, and his family and friends. We also met up with Peter, also of Team-Joker. Robin admires Phil's Boat, since it has performed better on the East-to-West Microtransat Atlantic Attempts than most, if not all the others ;-) Phil made the attempt later in the year - and Dick helped with a rescue. But that's another story :-)

UNQUOTE.
Finding that working Picaxe autopilot was important, and some may wish to play the video. Since then, Robin has successfully loaded the later version "Romeo" of the autopilot software - and it worked ! :-)

However, Robin has not yet found anyone with the time to get one or more of those "spare" autopilot boards to work. One could waste a lot of time trying, if it turned out that the module he purchased was NOT completely identical or compatible with the old version. AND, of course, there could easily be faults in Robin's wiring of the boards :-|

More details here in due course :-)

May, June, July & August 2024 Updates ...

from Robin: I hope to add more here soon, but here is a start, in catching up with long-overdue "Work". i.e. "Doing" and "Documenting" ;-)

Tap or Click on pictures to expand or play a video. You can skip hours to the relevant bit.

Good progress is being made on Snoopy's Robot Boat - See the introduction of the "Early May 2024" video on right :-)

But first, here are some photos taken on 14th May 2024. Tap or Click to expand and see detail.

We may add labels to some of the pictures below, in due course.
e.g. Test equipment for Bray Lake: 1) Mobius Video camera; 2) Test platform; 3) Text-To-Speech (TTS) unit; 4) TTS Cap - to seal box before going to sea; 5) GPS logger - for detailed second-by-second track of boat during a Bray Lake Test; 6) small solar panel to top up GPS logger; Maybe other things :-)

Labels added on 19th June :-)

Lots of work was done, in early 2024, by Bray Lake Watersports. This included chopping back willows that would obstruct the view - but much more. e.g. Snoopy's "Base", and all of Bray Lake is MUCH better for testing Snoopy :-) Saturday 22nd June 2024: Snoopy Sloop 11 is now practically ready for a Bray Lake Test, perhaps preceeded by finding some water, about 0.5m deep, so that a plimsoli-line can be neatly painted on the hull, showing the water level, without the additional 500 gm of "test Equipment", shown in the labelled photos above, that is just for Bray Lake, and does not go to sea.

Robin found one working GT-730FL-S GPS logger, from 2019, labelled "B" instead of "A" in this old photo, and it works ! It fits neatly into the space at the top of the box. The Spot Trace Satcomms tracker can easily be moved from June's car to it's space in the box.

BUT, before the 2024 Atlantic Attempt, Robin would hope that he has at least one tested spare for this GPS Logger product, and for the Picaxe 28X2 based autopilot. Read my words above, of 27th August and weep ! In short: a LOT of time can be wasted because of products that have changed or are faulty. Best have several spares before risking losing it all at sea ! Finding that old, working, Picaxe 28X2 board was critical for the 2024 Attempt. Robin is still happy to pay someone to deliver working products - but few people are capable - in Robin's opinion ;-)

from Robin on Saturday 13th July: Picture below shows Snoopy's boat completed, other than LOTS of inspection by others, and a Bray Lake Test - and/or other lakes, depending on things like depth of water, weed, etc. Today I also created a new page, Team-Joker and put the contents onto the Snoopy page, hoping to assist whoever is able to update the Microtransat site. But, that work done yesterday, inside the box: undoing the grub screw, holding the rudder arm to the steel rudder shaft, gave the hoped for result: the rudder fell out, showing that I HAD greased it well, many months ago :-) I put plenty more grease on, including where the "push rod" moves inside the rudder and servo arms. After checking that the rudder was central, the linkage was secured with superglue, then - when dry - with Fastglass resin. I also instected the soldered joints, including giving several a tug. The Spot Trace Tracker, normally caried for test in June's car, is now in the box, wedged in with some grey foam. The two power wires, from external solar powered 5v NiHD batteries, connect to the 4 AA NiMHd cells inside the Spot Trace tracker, via a little terminal block, with screws well tightened. I do confess that a made a silly mistake, and for a few seconds, the wires were the wrong way around, resulting in heat and smoke. BUT, this was rapidly fixed, and tests, carrying the boat around, confirmed that Spot was all working. You can check yourself by tapping or clicking on that image to the right :-)

Sunday 14th July:Snoopy's Mobius video camera checked out, including accuracy of time stamp. Tap or Click to play video or expand photo.

More good progress on testing: the GT-730FL-S GPS Logger, that will stay in Snoopy's boat after it is launched. Tap or Click on the pictures to expand.

This will be the first time that we are using this GT-730FL-S product, instead of the I-GotU GPS Logger, used on every Atlantic Attempt since the first in 2012. The I-GotU had become expensive, and this one seems to be better ;-)

That picture on the left from earlier, shows unit (A) instead of unit (B) that I found. It was not too difficult to remember how to use it. e.g. switch it on, to start logging, then off at the end. Then switch it on when plugging it into a PC to download the data into the Canway software.

It is currently set to record positions more rapidly than at sea. We can compare data from it, with that from the GPS logger only used on Bray Lake, that does not need to run for many days :-) You may look at the NMEA data as text from rb140724.nme or play it on a map with other software or web sites :-)

Here is sample below. e.g. Time 1615 GMT and 7 seconds. Latitude & Longitude. etc, etc :-)
$GPGGA,161507.00,5123.8203,N,0039.5891,W,1,00,0.0,87.3,M,0.0,M,,*45
$GPRMC,161507.00,A,5123.8203,N,0039.5891,W,0.0,000.0,281104,,,A*75
$GPGGA,161513.00,5123.8203,N,0039.5891,W,1,00,0.0,87.3,M,0.0,M,,*40
$GPRMC,161513.00,A,5123.8203,N,0039.5891,W,0.0,000.0,281104,,,A*70

Problems with 5v Power in Snoopy's Box, and with Canway GT-730FL-S GPS Logger ...

Tuesday 6th August 2024: Problems on two fronts: that GT-730FL-S GPS Logger, and something wrong with power in Snoopy's box of electronics - being investigated. But in short: when power is switched on, from the main solar powered 5v supply, the voltage drops, as if there is a short somewhere. BUT - that GPS Logger ...

The GT-730FL-S was set to record every 1 second, and put on a small solar powered 5v pack*, in the front of June's car, from about 1000 BST ( 0900 GMT / GPS Time ) on 31st July, until about 1700 BST today, 6th August. The good news is that the Canway software said only 26% of memory used. The bad news is that very little GPS data was recorded. For the few interested, the downloaded raw NMEA data, preceded by an explanation, is in 6aug24a.txt.
* MAYBE the 5v power is dropping ? That would explain the "patchy" recording. Robin will repeat the test, with a different 5v power source, starting at about 1945 BST today ! :-)

Wednesday 14th August 2024: Major progress yesterday on that power problem: it was Robin's sloppy soldering of where the two packs of 5v NiMH batteries receive power from the duplicated arrays of solar panels ! The next "Mid August 2024" Photo Trail Youtube video will show the nitty gritty work that eventually revealed the problem - hopefully now fixed ! Tap or Click on picture to enlarge :-)

Sadly, the Canway GT-730FL-S GPS Logger, and it's software, continue to cause Robin confusion. Despite power on the GPS Logger, for over 7 days, the data Robin saw still seems "patchy". In an attempt to gather more information, to confirm that the GT-730FL-S GPS Logger hardware, it's Canway software are OK, Robin has started a different test: cleared the memory, and set it to record data every 1 minute, instead of every 1 second. This was started at about 1740 BST ( 1640 GMT/UT/GPS Time ) on 14th August 2024. It is known that the date is wrong, but the NMEA GPS Time is a very useful indication of it is working, and not missing data. For the very few interested, a sample is in 13aug24a.txt. Not much data, and just a position wandering a few tens of metres, north-west and south-east, from roughly where it was - due to poor GPS signals. Date is wrong, but not time - which shows hours rather than days - in that download.

LOTS of other things happening each week, so Robin can only spend a few hours on the Robot Boat stuff. BUT it looks like we are close to being ready for a Bray Lake Test - ideally after inspection of the boat by others. The videos, on www.youtube.com/user/RobinLovelock/videos , visible to anyone, is one way of doing it !

Thursday 15th August 2024: Good News on testing of servos and the boats's 5v solar power system. Bad News on that Canway GPS Logger. But first the Good News ...

Robin had the bright idea of combining 24/7 testing of the 5v solar power system, with reliabilty testing of servos, of a particular brand, model, and - important - source - particularly when buying cheap goods off e-bay ! In the past, Robin used a "test rig" of a Picaxe computer, programmed to do typical regular "waggles" of the rudder servo. They would then be left running 24/7, until the servo failed - maybe not until after 2 or 3 months. Hence the aim of MTBF ( Mean Time Between Failures ) of 2 or 3 months. The rudder servo has always been the "weak link" in reliability of Snoopy's Robot Boats - other than Robin's silly mistakes, of course :-)

Robin's bright idea was simply to use one of the old Picaxe 28X2 Autopilots, which provides the typical rudder "waggle", but also includes the GPS, drawing at least as much 5v power as the later Picaxe 28X2 Autopilots. You may just make out the servo, and old autopilot, in that protective plastic box in this picture. Photo trail videos, to be published as "Mid August 2024" will show much more.

Today it has been cloudy, and Snoopy's 5v solar power supply reads 4.79v at 1645 BST ( 1545 GMT/UT/GPS Time ). The servo is still "waggling" ;-) Robin's photos & notes say the test was started yesterday evening, indoors, and it read 4.96v. It was put outside, in more light, at about 1100 BST, and read 4.77v; by 1225 BST it was 4.81v. We will see how it goes ! ;-)

Now the Bad News on Thursday 15th August: Robin still cannot make sense of the NMEA data from the Canway software. Nitty Gritty is in the photos yet to be published. However, since there are so many doubts about this product, Robin is open to suggestions on a suitable alternative. He will certainly be searching for a cheap I-GotU - IF he can find it. He obviously COULD make a logger himself, like the one only used on Bray Lake Tests, but set to record every 1 minute, rather than every second. BUT, Robin would rather "Buy" than "Build", since his time is limited and precious ;-)

Mixed News on Sunday 18th August: The good news is that the combined Servo & Power "test rig" proved it's value: Bad News - Snoopy's power dropped to 2.21v by 2140 BST Saturday, and the test rig autopilot stopped. That was despite bright sky or sunshine, and after only 2.2 days ! :-( Robin has been checking for possible explanations, including him having made mistakes, in earlier purchases and tests. e.g. today he checked the current, in sunlight, from one of the spare solar panels. He read only 70mA, whereas the Design Page ( section "e.5 Better Solar Panels" ) says that the 165x135mm solar panels gave over 500mA (583mA). Hence 4 should be enough for the boat system. Robin THINKS he would have tested the panels when rebuilding the boat. A more probably explanation, yet to be checked, is that at least one of the 4.8v 4xAAA NiMH battery packs, inside the box, had developed a short or electrical leak. e.g. when Robin caused a temporary short during wiring work. Today he ordered five of this product off Amazon, for delivery tomorrow, for test, and possible use. Before that, the packs inside the box must be checked. Right now sunlight is being used to gradually charge the system, which is switched off. At 1615 BST it was 4.55v. The 24/7 test of the servo continues, but with the "test rig" powered from a seperate 4.8v battery.

from Robin Monday 18th August: Best Guess is that, back in 2017, I DID order good 165x135mm solar panels, but when I ordered many more in the past year or two, I DID NOT DO "ON ARRIVAL" TESTS - particularly on the four put on the boat. To test my guess, I've just ordered the last 5 of smaller, but similar power vs size, from Amazon for delivery tomorrow. If these deliver more S/C ( Short circuit ) current, that will confirm my guess. The above is based on my snipping the wires, inside the box, connecting the LHS ( Left Hand Side = rear ) two panels, and checking the (low) current provided. On the basis that the 4.8v NiMHd 4 x AAA packs might be faulty, I now have a different product under test, that arrived from Amazon Prime today. First impressions are good: VERY well labelled "Fayerkar Model No FW1-01 BA223030 Rating 4.8v 2800mAh/13.44Wh Ni-MH Battery" - but, more important, the names and address of factory in Shenzhen, Importer in Belfast, and distributer in London ;-) One of the Fayerkar packs, fully charged, is now powering the (Servo) Test Rig, since about 1230 BST. The Test Rig seems to draw an average of about 75mA, so with a capacity of 2800mAh, that's a duration of about 2800 / 75 = 37.3 hours or about 1.5 days. We should see voltage drop, as the battery exhausts itself. At 1645 BST it's now 4.77v. We shall see ! :-) Monday 22nd August: We need to replace at least two, if not all four, of the large solar panels, for the main 5v supply. Robin was horified when he used a kitchen knife to carefully cut the white silicon sealant, that glues the panels to the deck. Tap or Click on the picture to enlarge. For those using translation flags, I've labelled the picture: 21 August 2024: Damaged Solar Panel from "RHS" (Front) Boat 11. 1) broken soldered connection; 2) Fast Glass Resin; 3) Silicon Sealant. He's not sure how it happened, but the brittle hardened resin had come unstuck from the solar panel board, and taken the blocking diode and wire with it. Maybe that resin is not such a good idea ! For now he will stick to use of the Wickes white bathroom sealant. Of course, there may be several faulty bits in the system: he found poorly soldered joints, that just came appart ! Also, those NiMHd batteries, may need to be changed. Testing is in progress. The good news is that he found a source of what seems to be the correct product, from what he hopes is a reliable UK distribor. He ordered six solar panels, for delivery via DHL, for delivery the next day ( today ). The specifications are practically identical to those good palels he discovered in 2017. The description was "3W 5.5V 540mA Solar Panel 160 x 138 x 2.5mm - 313070001". The link ( subject to change ) is Here CPC Seeed Studio Solar panel. . The specifications are: "3W Solar Panel; Typical voltage: 5.5V ; Typical current: 540mA ; Open-circuit voltage: 8.2V ; Maximum load voltage: 6.4V ; Dimensions: 160x138x2.5mm ;
Robin looks forward to "On Arrival Tests" ASAP ;-)

Latest information after mid August 2024 is in Blog11

Other stuff ...

See "BlogX", describing background experimental work from 2008 until now.

See the Recce, Compass , Software , and many Blog pages, for details of the vast ammount of experiments and testing, done over the years. Yes, there is a lot there, and you need a wide screen to scroll through it. I wish I'd written the blogs tidier, but they are better than nothing, and my time is precious. Now WHERE are the details of the autoplots in Boat6 and Boat10 used for that race in July 2014 ?

Play the video to see how well Snoopy's 2014 boat 10 did against the smaller experimental boat 6 on 11th July 2014. The speech from the autopilot of Boat6 implies it was using experimental compass-based steering. i.e. "ahead, ahead, left, ahead", etc. Boat 10 used our old, trusted, GPS-Only steering. Why did Boat6 win ? Much less weight: see the Blog for Boats 11 and 12 having a race with identical autopilots on Thursday 6th July 2017, three years later. We can learn a lot from what we did in earlier years, if we write it down - or better still, film it :-)

Snoopy's Bray Lake Test ... sail 530 metres automatically, through 5 waypoints ...

Who has visited this page ?

From Robin: It's very convenient for me, that there are so few visitors to this page: just those given the link. See map and words near end of my Home page ;-)

The visit counters may give a rough indication on who else is visiting, or has visited, this page. I don't hide or disguise my visits, but they may appear as "Ascot", or miles away, like "Redhill" or even "Southend-on-Sea, England" (on my Lounge PC), or "High Wycombe" or "West-Drayton, England" ( on the Study PC). Positions may not be accurate, but times are. These may change at any time, without control by me. e.g. if we have a power cut, or I reboot a router. So, you may see if I'm "working" in the Study, or "relaxing" in Lounge :-)

Not all visits are seen, and some browsers hide location, but you may find Revolvermaps livestats for this "Blog10" page of interest.

The video on the right shows several guys visiting my Covid19 page , shortly after I posted the link to the Microtransat forum, linked from the Snoopy Robot Boat page.

That's right - Hobby activity and Charitable Causes, rather than earning money. Us Grumpy old men sometimes find that, "there are just not enough hours in the day" ;-)

© 2023 Robin Lovelock.

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