Mainebiz

I N S I D E T H E N OT E B O O K W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 13 J U N E 1 , 2 0 1 5 J a m e s M c C a r t h y , Mainebiz senior writer, can be reached at j m c c a r t h y @ m a i n e b i z . b i z and @ J a m e s M a i n e b i z . These UMaine students would make Deming proud T wo boats rest on the lawn outside the University of Maine's Advanced Manufacturing Center. It's a sunny May afternoon, a few days before commencement. Clusters of graduat- ing seniors soak up the rays — gen- erally looking relieved they'll soon be heading out into the "world" with diplomas in hand. Recalling that scene three weeks later, I almost write "real world" — but correct myself, realizing these soon-to-be engineering gradu- ates already are in the real world, with eyes wide open and skills that will help them be the rising generation of inno- vators and manufacturers so desper- ately needed in our aging manufactur- ing economy. My curiosity is piqued by a sign iden- tifying the two boats as being examples of "autonomous boats" constructed as capstone projects by two teams of graduating mechanical engineering students. e fi rst group — Philip Bean Jr., Matt Harkins, Isaac Walton and Ethan Ray, all from Maine — agrees to an impromptu interview. ey answer my questions with confi dence, patience and enthusiasm, quali- ties that will serve them well as they enter a workforce that needs not only competent engineers, but also good communicators. e obvious fi rst question: What's the function of a boat that doesn't have a human at the wheel? Answer: Portland-based Ocean Renewable Power Co.'s pilot tidal power project in Cobscook Bay off Eastport involves 24/7 tracking of the power turbines' impact on their immediate environment. Floating sonar buoys cap- ture too much data to be transmitted by cable to shore. at means every week a boat has to retrieve a data recorder from the sonar buoy and bring it back to shore for downloading that data. Automating that function could save money. I have no trouble understanding the theory, but to my English major's brain it seems an impossible task for an autonomous boat to handle — especially if you factor in shifting winds, changing tides and wave patterns that will make even simple navigation from shore to buoy more complicated than a straight-line course. ese engineers tell me they've taken that into account: It's part of their "Plan, Do, Study, Act" training, the steps popu- larized by W. Edwards Deming, the manufacturing world's guru of continu- ous process improvement. To handle turbulent waters, they chose a catamaran hull for greater stability. ey bought it used, in order to stay within their overall $1,600 budget for the capstone project. ey fi gured out how to plot the boat's course, plugging both the coordinates and the variables tied to wind and tides into their GPS navigator. ey built a platform for two deep-cycle marine bat- teries powering the electric engine and the trolling device they'd designed for scooping up the sonar buoy's black box device. ey tested the sensor designed to recognize the bobbing buoy and guide the autonomous boat to get close enough for the black box's retrieval. en they tested their boat on the calm waters of Pushaw Lake, where they were able to navigate their boat to a spe- cifi c point and get it to return. Getting it to recognize the buoy, however, "took awhile," they tell me; more testing will be required as well as improvements to their design. "Fail fast, fail cheap" also is part of their training, so the team seems undaunted its boat isn't ready yet for commercialization. e second team of Timothy Abraham, Michael White, Robert Daniels and Jacob St. Peter — two being from out-of-state — make an equally strong case for their 12-foot Ted Williams fi berglass skiff and GPS navigation system. ey also didn't achieve absolute success, but remind me: A prototype doesn't have to solve all the problems. ey plan to pass on their results to next year's senior engi- neering students. I left these students feeling con- fi dent they'll capably navigate their engineering careers — with solid skills that include being able to work well with other team players, in waters both choppy and smooth. May they fi nd those careers here in Maine. KatahdinTrust.com/Business Each week, Tom Laurita takes advantage of our daily flights from Maine to Boston to make easy connections and arrive refreshed at his office in St. Louis. Where do you need to be? Start on a fast Cape Air flight and enjoy the ride. capeair.com 800-CAPE-AIR Fly from Hancock County-Bar Harbor, Knox County and Augusta State Airports. Enjoy the ride. Tom Laurita, CEO New Leaf Symbiotics Who knew I could commute from Rockland to St. Louis? " " Augusta Bar Harbor Rockland Boston

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