When Evan Chou was in high school, he didn’t know he’d find a club that combined two of his greatest passions: sailing and robotics.
Now, Chou, Sci ’15, is captain of Queen’s Mostly Autonomous Sailboat Team (MAST).
MAST consists of 25 students who design, build and compete with robotically-engineered sailboats in yearly international competitions.
Chou was introduced to the team through an engineering class project, where he had to help MAST members mount a GoPro to their sailboat that could be remotely controlled.
Being a part of MAST provides an experience different than anything else for Chou.
“Cars are cool, but you don’t always have an opportunity to work with sailboats,” he said.
It takes the members of MAST a full school year to design and construct the sailboat so it’s competition-ready.
First, the team builds the physical sailboat, which involves constructing the hull, the fiberglass work, and designing the sails. From there, they focus on the electrical components, which control the rudders and sails that take input from sensors.
The final step is the software component, where the team members write the code that tells the boat how to sail and how to react in the water.
While the process of constructing the sailboats might seem complex, Chou said that it’s a great way to learn and provides an opportunity for older students to pass on knowledge to younger MAST members.
“When you’re working with first or second-year students and they learn something that they’ve never heard of before or considered … that’s really rewarding,” he said.
This year, MAST has been building a new, two-metre long boat.
“We’re thinking it’s going to be a very high quality, good looking boat,” he said.
Last year’s sailboat was fully autonomous — a first in the club’s 10-year history.
“You could just give it any GPS coordinate and it should be able to get there by itself,” Chou explained.
The team is currently looking forward to their upcoming June 4 competition at the International Robotic Sailboat Regatta. Last year’s competition took place in St. John’s, Newfoundland, and was a smaller affair. This year, MAST is hosting the competition from June 4 to 11, at the Kingston Yacht club. 12 schools are currently slated to attend including Memorial University, Cornell and Yale.
There are five standard challenges that occur at the International Robotic Sailboat Regatta.
The newest challenge introduced this year uses computer vision technology. Here, teams attach a webcam on the boat to scan the surrounding waters and detect a hidden object.
“Computer vision is a challenging thing for our computer programmers … but they’re excited and I think they are getting more confident in us being able to do it,” Chou said.
An integral part to the MAST team is their 35 cent opt-out fee, which contributes to 40 per cent of their income. When students opt-out, it becomes harder for MAST to work on their sailboats.
Despite this, Chou said one of the most enjoyable things about the experience is how unique it is.
“You get some hands on experience outside the classroom, which you might not have access to otherwise,” he said. “It’s a pretty niche thing.”
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