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T100 Thruster Kickstarter is Live + SolarSurfer Progress

Posted by Rustom Jehangir on August 12, 2014 at 8:00am

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Hello all,

First of all, we wanted to remind everyone that the BlueRobotics T100 Thruster Kickstarter is live starting at 8:30am Pacific time today! The T100 is the first underwater thruster that is affordable for hobbyist projects. We've put tons of work into it and we hope that you will consider backing us! There are many ways it can be used on drone/APM/Pixhawk projects. Check out the ArduBoat User Group for ideas.

You can back the Kickstarter here.

Speaking of APM-based marine robotics projects, we've made some significant progress on our SolarSurfer vehicle. The SolarSurfer is a T100 propelled autonomous robot that is powered by a solar panel and navigated by an APM2.6. We are working towards a non-stop trip from Los Angeles to Hawaii.

Last week we completed a 24 hour test in the open ocean. The SolarSurfer was launched from a boat off the coast of Los Angeles and autonomously navigated under solar power until the sun went down. At night, the robot drifts with the current. The electronics and satellite link stay active so that we can track it's movement.

The following morning it "woke-up" and continued on its way. We intercepted it with the boat in the middle of the day. Successful test.

Here's an image from the test. We'll have a map of the GPS track posted on our website in the next few days.

3689610781?profile=originalThanks and remember to check out the Kickstarter campaign!

- Rusty, Joe, and Josh from BlueRobotics

Tags: arduboat, bluerobotics, marine, ocean, solar, solarsurfer, thruster
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Comments

  • monkeynutz August 12, 2014 at 10:47pm

    I bought 2 .. think 1 was left at $90

  • Admin
    Thomas J Coyle III August 12, 2014 at 4:13pm

    The $90 each deal is sold out!

    Regards,

    TCIII ArduBoat Developer

  • Rustom Jehangir August 12, 2014 at 3:00pm

    @Phil - Yes, we are going to have a label on the thruster. It will have our logo, model number, and a unique serial number. We didn't mention that anywhere. Good catch.

  • Phil Gordon August 12, 2014 at 2:58pm

    Are you going to  Bluerobotics T100 stickers etc on the actual thrusters?

    Never hurts to have your name on the products you manufacture,cheap long term advertising.

  • Rustom Jehangir August 12, 2014 at 2:00pm

    Hi Brian, USD15 covers all the thrusters in the order. Thanks for backing us!

    -Rusty

  • Brian Donovan August 12, 2014 at 1:59pm

    I am in Oz. Not sure if I should have added USD15 each for shipping or for entire 3 I pledged. Great looking product!

  • Rustom Jehangir August 12, 2014 at 11:44am

    @Dave, awesome! Glad to see that your son may be a future marine roboticist :-)

    We are considering adding the company name to the shirt or having it be optional. Thanks for pointing it out.

    -Rusty

  • Dave August 12, 2014 at 11:42am

    Buying 2, my 14 month old son is going to have the best science projects in 7 years. Thats the logic I use for these purchases but flawed that it doesn't work on my wife. Any chance we can get the full company name on the front or back of the shirts.

    Best of luck guys. 

  • Rustom Jehangir August 12, 2014 at 11:12am

    @Carl - Thanks! Appreciate it.

  • Carl Stiegler August 12, 2014 at 11:08am

    2 thruster, 2 esc and 1 shipping outside US. 

This reply was deleted.