if only I had a ...?????

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CalmSkipper

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My son is doing an A level product design course and is looking for ideas for a project. He's considering doing something for a boat so we're fishing for ideas (pun intended). What is it that iritates you about existing boat equipment/systems and/or what is it you wish you had that you haven't got......or you have but it never bl**y well works when you need it to (please don't answer SWMBO to that one!!). Amusing ideas welcome too!
 
Is this AS or A2? And which exam board? I'm sure he will already know, as you've indicated in the wording of your post, that the starting point is the identification of a problem or need, and after suitable research some design solutions are proposed and developed into a final solution. Some good boat related ideas I've seen:
1. Monitoring sail shape for racing dinghies - the finished product was a camera on a specially made mount at the top of the mast, with coloured tape stripes stuck on the sail.
2. Energy efficient boat lighting - this was done a few years ago before led's were so widely available, so it may not have the potential for such a high grade now.
3. Rudder and centre-boards for racing dinghies - on the face of it, not much potential for a high grade, but if the project folder focusses heavily on laminated timber used as an engineering material, includes some testing processes and cantilever beam theory and discusses in detail the use of epoxy resin it could be a worthy contender.

Make sure you don't choose something that is impossible to make. I don't know any schools that have the facilities to weld aluminium or stainless steel (and I don't suppose there are many teachers who can do this either).
Another thing to bear in mind is that, in such a specialist field, few teachers and even exam boards really know what they are talking about - obviously apart from any resident educationalists on these forums! Things like electrolytic corrosion, grades of stainless steel, navigation and so on are outside the experience of most D and T departments. If your son has a teacher who is a sailing enthusiast then that will be a welcome bonus.
Just to prove my point about lack of specialist knowledge, an exemplar AS Level exam question published by Edexcel asked "What materials would you use to produce the fittings for a classic boat?" The exemplar answers given were brass and stainless steel. Both wrong.
 
Thinking a bit further on SRPs suggestion.

How about the posibility of making a centreboard or rudder (or both) that you change change the shape of to produce lift? What would be the effect on heeling or leeway?

Not too difficult to make a few fixed model examples so you can actually do some real world measurements of the effects, and a design proposal to actually make one and control it.

Send the patent cheque to Full Circle, Burnham On Crouch.
 
[ QUOTE ]
How to keep the beer cool on a small boat with no fridge?

[/ QUOTE ]

Tweezy! I done that one years ago. Use the "Sock Powered Fridge". I suspect the search engine won't find it, but I did do a thread on it a year or so ago.
/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif YBW fora are just like the magazines, the same ideas/ threads/ articles appear every few years!
 
You're right it didn't find it. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

How hard can it be to run a decent search function?
 
Are you talking mechanical, electrical, electronic, wood, GRP, or any mix.
How about thee me of th retrofit of an electric drive into a vessel. That should keep the tree huggers happy

you could use fuel cells, solar panels, wind chargers, water chargers and a small generator in the answer. You could use examples of new build, and compare the potential of different types of boat (catamarans versus half boats)

It provides a number of different technologies to investigate and analyse, and the option of earning a few pennies afterwards by publishing in some of the mags

Happy to provide pointers if interested
 
How about a retro-fit seal for centre boards to prevent gravel ingress and improve water flow?
Mainly for dinghies but adaptable to lift-keel yachts.

Not challenging maybe, but plenty of scope for elegant solutions and use of modern materials.
 
Means of compacting rubbish.
Just about every boat in the world needs one.
It would help the tree huggers, less infill.
Should probably be hand power driven, could use levers, cantilevers, wheels/cogs. Could be made from Wood, Plastic, Steel, Ally, almost any thing.

Might have a go my self . . .

Just kidding

Simes
 
Mini and CHEAP! ROV? for hull inspection (do I need a lift or not, is there a rope/net round my prop) and checking the anchor (is it dug in/fouled) etc. etc.
/sg
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hammer.gif
Artificial Intelligence is no match for Natural Stupidity
 
I agree Tree Hugging is the in thing with fuel costs as they are. So, how about a small anaerobic digester/battery charger? Helps reduce waste pollution and can provide power.

Alternatively, an electronic sextant that does all the calculations for you, small enough to be secretly smuggled in to an RYA Yachtmaster Ocean examination, and usable by an ignoramous like me.

A dishwasher for a boat that uses the ionisation principles of these new anti-fouling devices.

A device, probably lazer-based, that zaps PWCs in anchorages on saturday afternoons, or simply kills their ignition systems - could be a graphite-cloud bomb or something of that nature.

Something that gets rid of rope ends lying all around the deck. A sorta winch with a rope supply drum or something.
 
Or of course a compact version of the Lakesailor Fart Chair. It would collect on-board flatulence and store the product for the hob or heater. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
Mini and CHEAP! ROV? for hull inspection (do I need a lift or not, is there a rope/net round my prop) and checking the anchor (is it dug in/fouled) etc. etc.
/sg
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(cut)

[/ QUOTE ]

There's a good idea. Waterproof a digital web camera on a stick connected to a laptop? Add an LED bike lamp for poor vis and it could be a winner.
 
Its A2. That's a really good point about the exam board. We're in the midlands so most examiners/teachers are unlikely to know anything about boating which I guess favours ideas like the waste compressor and the under water video camera where they can appreciate the need more readily. I must say the laser PWC zapper is a particularly inspired idea. Should we set to stun or exterminate?
 
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