A WPI-fielded team won the 16th running of the International Robotic Sailing Regatta, known as “SailBot.”
The major qualifying project (MQP) team that took home the trophy at this year’s competition on Lake Attitash in Amesbury included graduating seniors Erin Murphey (mechanical engineering), Anthony Virone (robotics engineering), Matthew Gomes (robotics engineering/computer science), and Theodore Winter (robotics engineering).
The annual regatta calls on teams to design and build the two-meter-long vessels to run autonomously and by remote control over the course of several events, including a fleet race and navigational accuracy, endurance, payload, presentation, and station-keeping events.
For the 2024 competition, the MQP team designed and manufactured a new hull from carbon fiber, fully replaced the boat’s software systems, and redesigned the electrical system.
Against teams from Germany and Canada, along with U.S.-based teams from Cornell University, The University of Pennsylvania, Virginia Tech, and high school teams from Newburyport and California, the WPI team scored first in several categories to take the overall win. This year’s victory brings WPI’s SailBot total to four.
Partially funded by a generous donation from the WPI Voyagers, the SailBot team is advised by Ken Stafford and Bill Michalson, professors of robotics engineering.