Autonomous Boat Project using NXT/LabVIEW

[Tel_autoboat]

Hi,

I am part of a university project to design and build an autonomous boat that can navigate within a wavetank (approx. 18m x 3m). The project is still in it's early stages and I have been tasked with designing an overall (or global as we have named it) navigation system. This is essentially a system that is intended to replace GPS in an indoor environment. I have seen some systems online that could be adapted such as using infra-red and/or ultrasonic emitters and receivers and they appear to be a good solution to the problem. Due to time restrictions it is likely that the system will not actually get onto the boat but it would at least be nice to design a small scale system as proof-of-concept. Unfortunately, despite having some LabVIEW experience I have very little knowledge of electronics so will be limited mainly by this and the time restraints of the project. I just thought I would put a post up to see if anyone had any ideas on the matter - any advice would be much appreciated,

thanks