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On November 9, 2022, we sent an introductory email to several organizations and companies to announce that, as a company specializing in electrical (propulsion) systems for recreational boating, we also want to make a difference locally. This includes sponsoring events like the Varend Corso or the scouting movement , as well as promoting local tourism and supporting local education.
The day after sending this email, we were contacted by three students from ISW Technasium Hoogeland in Naaldwijk. They were working on an assignment for two local businesses: Advier and BoereGoed .
For this project, we're designing and building an autonomous boat that can sail from Westland to Delft. We've chosen to scale this project. We'd like an expert supervisor for this project. Expert supervisors are people with expertise in a specific field and can offer advice and tips. We'd like to learn more about which propulsion system would be best suited for our project. Could you help us with this?
That's fantastic! Of course, we wanted to help. Not just because it's innovative and local. It's a direct investment in the next generation, and how cool would it be if that could also lead to a truly potential product?.
We immediately invited Thomas, Kylian, and Lyse to our office and asked them what the goal was, what the timelines were, and what the current status was. It was an "interesting" conversation. As befits good young people, their ambitions were too high, the timeline too short, and their status a bit behind the schedule, which should still be made ;-). In short, they could certainly use some help.
The scale model they wanted to build was too small for our engines, but we were able to provide input on the pros and cons of different engine types, such as inboards , outboards , and pods . We briefly considered a Vaquita as the engine, but with the intended scale, that would have resulted in a submarine.
There was also plenty of knowledge to be shared about shipbuilding techniques, including materials and construction. I retrieved some examples of wood types from the workshop, and it turned out that exactly those were used in the final model.
On January 26th, I attended the presentation of the final result. A video demonstrated that the model could indeed sail autonomously, but could also be remotely controlled using drone technology. It didn't reach the Westland-Delft terminal, and I wouldn't call the prototype production-ready yet, but it was certainly fun. It was especially rewarding to be there, experience the enthusiasm, and be able to ask some cautious, critical questions.
If a similar project is started again, we would be happy to participate, and by joining a little earlier we could contribute even more.
