The groundwork was laid in early 2020, when YachtBot approached Doodle Labs for a highly-reliable, low latency, mesh radio system for an over-the-water network. While the racecourse is less than 2 nautical miles (approximately 4 km), the race markers can be spread out over a very large area. For this reason it was logistically challenging to have a shore-based system that covers the whole area, and is why YachtBot was looking to build a movable mesh of “network islands”.
The team at YachtBot decided to integrate the 900 MHz Smart Radio into their portable WindBot. Each Smart Radio is paired with an omni antenna and mounted on a race marker. For the America’s Cup, seven WindBots are scattered around to blanket the racecourse with connectivity.
“Our team at Doodle Labs was excited to collaborate with YachBot on their system design and integration,” noted Aaron Do, Manager of Application Engineering at Doodle Labs. “And being a Kiwi at heart, this was particularly fun. Go New Zealand!”