Sailone - Transatlantic Autonomous Sailboat

About the Project

Sailone is a 2.5m fully autonomous surface vehicle engineered to operate for weeks or months at sea, navigating wind, waves, and weather without any remote control. The vessel integrates custom electronics for navigation, control, power management, and oceanographic data collection.

Our design

We are collaborating with biologists at Instituto Superior Técnico (University of Lisbon) to develop a suite of oceanographic sensors capable of measuring sea surface temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and biological footprint data — contributing real scientific value alongside the engineering challenge.

We are also partnered with Prusa Research, the largest 3D printer manufacturer in Europe and North America, who will be featuring the project across their Instagram account of over 300,000 followers through multiple dedicated posts. We are a 3-person team, all completely dedicated to bringing SAILONE to life.

Project updates are publicly available at sailone.org.

The route

Project Timeline

We are actively building and testing now, which means PCBWay-sponsored content will begin generating immediately and continue through each phase of the project:

1. June – early August: Hull assembly, electronics and sensor integration. Photo and video content from the workshop covering 3D-printed components, board assembly, and system integration — with PCBWay branding and attribution throughout.
2. Mid-July – early August: First sea trials off Setúbal, filmed from a support motorboat.
3. Late August: Coastal endurance tests from Setúbal to Sines (~100 km) and the Algarve (~400 km). Low-risk trials with a rescue vessel on standby — real open-water performance footage.
4. September – October: If coastal trials go well, a Madeira test route (~970 km offshore). A significant milestone and high-visibility media moment for all project partners.

Technical Details:

Navigation and Control:

Autopilot: Pixhawk running ArduPilot Rover/Boat firmware

Microcontroller: ESP32 (motor PID, sensor reading, wind vane)

Onboard computer: Raspberry Pi Zero 2W (data logging, dashboard, satellite comms, video)

Communication: RockBLOCK 9603 Iridium satellite modem

Motor Control PCBs:

2x BTS7960 H-bridge motor driver circuits (sail and rudder)

5x AS5600 magnetic encoder interface via TCA9548A I2C multiplexer

PWM input capture for Pixhawk servo signals

UART interface to Raspberry Pi

Board size: 200×150mm

Operating voltage: 12V / 3.3V logic

Power Management PCB:

4S LiFePO4 12.8V 30Ah battery

3x 20W solar panel with MPPT charging controller

4x INA219 current/voltage monitoring (per-panel and system-wide)

Daily consumption: 23 Wh. Solar production: 75 Wh. Surplus: 52 Wh/day

Battery autonomy without sun: 13 days

What PCBWay Would Gain

In exchange for sponsorship support, PCBWay would receive:

• Logo placement on the vessel hull and sail, visible throughout all sea trials, testing, and the Atlantic crossing attempt itself
• Featured coverage across Sailone's social media channels, including build documentation and technical posts highlighting PCBWay-manufactured boards in a real-world, long-endurance marine application
• Cross-promotion through our partnership with Prusa Research (300,000+ Instagram followers)
• Association with a high-visibility engineering challenge covered by specialist media in the autonomous systems and ocean robotics spac
• A concrete, documented showcase of PCBA quality under genuinely demanding conditions

Sponsorship Request

We are currently seeking manufacturing and assembly support for the electronic systems. We are flexible on the structure of the collaboration — whether that takes the form of a direct manufacturing contribution, partial cost coverage, or a tailored sponsorship package — and would be very happy to discuss what works best for PCBWay.

If possible, it would be great if PCBWay could provide us with their PCB fabrication service with component installation (PCBA), for boards sized 200×150 mm, 5 pieces per board design.

Thank you for your time!