Story

Engineering students set to launch ‘sailbot’ to Hawaii

Research Excellence | Strategy 8: Student Research
Theme: Collaboration

Get ready for the next leap forward in autonomous driving—on the water. Raye, an 18-foot-long autonomous sailboat (or ‘sailbot’), will be launching on her maiden voyage from Victoria, BC to Maui, Hawaii this month.

Built and developed by passionate students from the UBC Sailbot engineering design team, Raye will navigate and sail 2,308 nautical miles (4,274 km) across the Pacific Ocean, without a human crew.

“This has been a real labour of love, creativity and innovation by over 200 engineering students in the last six years,” says Asvin Sankaran, student co-captain. “We’ve successfully tested Raye on land and in water, and are really excited to send her off.”

Tracking the voyage

Follow Raye through her tracking website (live upon her launch) and by connecting with UBC Sailbot on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Please read the full story on the Applied Sciences website.

Through Strategy 8: Student Research, UBC is expanding opportunities for undergraduates to gain first-hand experience in research and is strengthening research experiences for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.