Mechanical

Here we have an assembly model of ØILUS. In the model, you can see the two pink foam logs, the base plate, acrylic walls, rudder, servo mount, motor mount, shaft, and propeller. Other items included in the actual physical ØILUS are not shown in the model for simplicity.

The actual physical ØILUS on our demonstration day. As you can see, ØILUS closely matches our CAD model. In addition to the items seen in the CAD model, we have a flag, the tether tied to ØILUS, the Tupperware container, the pump, and a pairing indicator.

This is the CAD model of our custom 3D-printed propeller. We created this propeller because we couldn't find one in the lab that met our needs. Although we considered purchasing a propeller, we decided it would be a good exercise in CAD to create one that fit our desired specifications. We were concerned that our custom propeller might not be efficient enough, but it has worked well for the purposes of this project.

This is the CAD model of our motor mount. The front face has custom specifications for the motor we chose. It features two small holes to securely fasten the motor mount to the front face of the motor and a larger hole for the motor shaft. The motor's angle was determined to be 15 degrees, roughly estimated using our model. We have four holes to mount the motor mount to the base deck of ØILUS. We were concerned about the front face's strength in supporting the weight of a large motor. The 3D print broke only once, and it was from cleaning up support from the front face, not from use.

This is the model of our flagpole. It is approximately 20 cm tall to meet the requirement that our boat number be 15 cm tall and that the tender originate from a point roughly over the center of mass of ØILUS. We use this flagpole to achieve both objectives. We designed chord edges to create support along the base, considering the nonuniform offset weight from the top. Although we did not perform a detailed analysis, we assumed the material strength would be sufficient, and it was.

For the design of the rudder, we needed a mounting system for the servo that could attach to the deck of ØILUS. We designed a press-fit mount for the servo with a clipping edge that wraps around the acrylic edge, featuring two holes for screws and nuts to secure it tightly. The rudder fits onto the top of the servo and can be screwed on securely, ensuring no position slip. To prevent excessive torque on the servo head, we added a supporting point by creating a supporting fang that connects the mount on the base plate directly to the rudder.