Students at the University of West Florida (UWF) have developed a low-cost RoboBoat kit in collaboration with the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) in Panama City. The project specifically targets the use of maritime robotics in secondary school STEM education and is designed to provide both technical functionality and accessibility for use in school-level competitions.
Initiated under the direction of Dr. Damion Dunlap, STEM Outreach Manager at the NSWC, the project was realized over the winter semester of 2024 in cooperation with the Hal Marcus College of Science and Engineering in Fort Walton Beach. A four-member student team from electrical and computer engineering disciplines designed and built a fully 3D-printed boat. Technical supervision was provided by Dr. Jeff McGuirk, a senior lecturer with engineering experience in the U.S. Air Force.
The boat’s hull was fabricated using PLA filament and sealed with layers of Flex Seal for waterproofing. The modular design allows the components to be produced using standard desktop 3D printers. After successful buoyancy and sealing tests, propulsion systems, control electronics, and a waterproof housing for the battery and microcontroller were installed. The RoboBoat is controlled via a conventional RC remote system.
“We decided that this project would be an amazing way to help high school students become more excited about STEM in an inexpensive and cost-effective way,” said Ashley Schnaible, who is a computer engineering student in her senior year. “This project gave us the opportunity to explore multiple ways of constructing a functioning RoboBoat kit using materials that students could obtain rather easily. It also gave our team the opportunity to be giant kids ourselves, having fun with the build, designing it essentially like a giant Lego set.”
This summer, the RoboBoat project will continue through an internship program at NSWC. High school students will work on further development, with the goal of refining the platform and expanding access to maritime robotics using additive manufacturing techniques.
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