Found this on Gizmodo
It’s codenamed FishPi, and I’m already hungry. It’s going to consist of a Raspberry Pi computer, strapped to a solar panel and encased in a model boat that will navigate perilous seas all by itself.
Greg Holloway is the crazy sea dog who came up with the FishPi, and explains his ideas on the Raspberry Pi blog:
Massive 25-foot waves, 100km/h winds, torrential rain, lightning, and the Kraken. None of those things should be put anywhere near a Raspberry Pi. On the Atlantic Ocean all of those are common place, and that is exactly where I’m sending my Raspberry Pi.
FishPi will be powered by a 130watt solar panel, so there will be no masts or sails. The propulsion will run from batteries, charged by the solar panel, and it will utilise a Kort Nozzle to gain maximum thrust from what will be limited power.
On-board will be a compass, GPS and camera so we always know where the little adventurer is on its journey. It’s only a proof of concept right now, but Holloway is confidant it can become a reality. Oh please let it become a reality. I want to watch a model boat cross an ocean all by itself from the comfort of my office chair.
Comments
He is talking about proof of concept, meaning standard model boat with autopilot without Solar...
Should be no problem for ArduRover?
When it really comes to the harsh enivironment of open ocean the world looks different. To my knowledge no autonomous boat made it across an ocean... Salt water, wind, currents, dirt...
There is a competition, anyway: http://www.microtransat.org/
I want a 130W solar panel that can fit on the hull pictured above.
Neat, but I would have used a much different model. I'm not sure why he chose that one. The ideal would I think be the 52" Arun class lifeboat model. It should be self-righting and water-tight. Something I would think you would want?
If placement of solar panels was a problem with that hull, I would think something like one of the large freighter hulls would be better. The one he chose seems to be a pretty inefficient hull.
That will be amazing! I hope it all works out
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