Background Information

        In the current market, there are dozens of solely battery powered vehicles that are as easy to operate as pushing the lever on a controller.  But where is the challenge and fun in that?  With so many similar battery driven remote controlled cars out there, how does one remote controlled vehicle stand up above the rest.  That said, in some areas, land sailors have become popular for recreational as well as competitive purposes in place of RC cars.  A land sailor is a solely wind driven vehicle that conceptually works the same as a sailboat, only on wheels.  Since the time when the land sailor’s original purpose was as a form of manned transportation, the idea was scrapped, but the concept for the land sailor has been evolved into a smaller model that is used in tournaments and for fun.  A notable representative in the field of land sailers is the International Remote Controlled Surface Sailing Association, more commonly known as the IRCSSA has been the innovator and leader developing models of both land and ice sailors in the past few years.  With so many RC cars out there on the market, the aspect of wind driven land sailors may come out on top as an increasing number of users are interested over the next few years.

            


        For our senior year in Systems Engineering II class, it is my partner’s and my job to design, develop, and build our own RC land sailer.  With the guide of our mentors and advisors, by the end of the process, a fully operational remote controlled land sailor will be produced and ran through a series of tests of its performance. 

          

As stated before, there is room for innovation in the field of remotely controlled vehicles.  The use of land sailors is very scattered with many demographics never see or even hearing about them or competitions where people enter their own models,  The land sailor will be new and attractive to them so the concept will surely take off.  Additionally, there are no major land sailors on the global market, only scattered around certain areas.  Introducing this new hobby would be innovative to thousands of people.  Families would purchase and assemble and modify their own models and race them in newly started neighborhood competitions.  A hobby that unites people is always worthwhile, helping communities as well.  As more people buy their own and more competitions are set up, people will begin to build and design their own, adding more and more diversity to these social events.  The idea of a machine that is fun and brings together parts of the community will surely be very successful. 

            

       Any member of the community looking for a fun and simple hobby for either themselves or for their family would be one of the stakeholders for this product.   The product also could more complex for the technologically advanced stakeholders, as modifications are encouraged if they plan to enter their altered designs into local or even regional competitions depending on skill level.  More importantly, this product is good for both the skilled and the unskilled end users overall.  After time and as users learn how to properly operate their own sailers, the deciding factors will shift from just better designs to operating skill.  As people get a better feel for land sailing, users will purchase more advanced models, increasing competition exponentially.

            The land sailer is intended to bring about a feeling of togetherness in terms of the community.  With many people in one environment working toward the same goal and on the same project, people who use the land sailor will surely feel a sense of connection with their neighbors and friends.  As for the individual user, the betterment of the design and the goal of becoming a better user require determination.  It is this striving for improvement that will keep the user attached and devoted to the land sailor.

            Of course, the general concept of the RC land sailer can be compared to the standard remote controlled car.  However, its principles and dynamics are more comparable to a sailboat, being that they both rely on the same source of power and go by the same maneuvers in sailing.  It is this utilization of concept from both fields that opens up a whole new gap in technology for the land sailor to fill.