Although the semester is coming to a finish, work on the outboard motor mount is still progressing. The design has been finalized, and work has moved onto simulation. The design is currently undergoing static simulation using the ANSYS program. The simulation is currently being used to understand the effects that the torque of the propeller and the weight of the motors have on the system. Through the use of simulations I hope continue to make my design more efficient and reduce the weight of the system by 20%. 

A lot of progress has been made with the drivetrain over the past couple of weeks. The designs for the top and bottom plates of the sprint have been finalized. They are set to be made in the waterjet as soon as materials are ordered and arrive. A new idler wrench has been waterjet recently. The wrench can be used to adjust the tension for both the sprint and endurance outboards. In the upcoming weeks the current endurance outboard will be disassembled so that the pulley and standoffs can be machined. The bottom plate of the endurance also needs to be modified to allow for the new steering attachment.

The steering system recently had a brief redesign. The decision to stay with the butterfly steering wheel and have a turning radius of 90 degrees was finalized. The chain and sprocket pitch was reduced to ¼ inch pitch to reduce the weight and decrease the arclength. The next big challenge was to correct the linkage system. In order to properly achieve the same turning angle in both directions, the length of the I-Bar was modified to be the same as the length from the driveshaft to the tie rod connection point. The desired angle of motor rotation was also reduced from 60 degrees to 40 degrees each direction. The orientation of the I-Bar was flipped and the steering shaft was moved closer to the transom. This allows the mounting plate size to be reduced which will save money and reduce weight.