HELP FINANCE ROBOTBOAT MARKVI ON KICKSTARTER BY 12OKT12!!! (I'M A BACKER!!!)

THIS is just so cool, it is local (Silver Spring, MD) and if they get this up and running they will invest in jobs and technology here in the U.S.! Check out their project page on KickStarter and pledge what you can, if you can, And share with others who may be interested. Click the link...

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/robotboat/robotboat-mark-vi?ref=live 

by Eamon Carrig · You're a backer

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We're building a fleet of autonomous sailing robots to study the oceans. Each boat can sail itself anywhere & send data back to shore.

• Launched: Sep 12, 2012
• Funding ends: Oct 12, 2012
• Remind Me

WHAT IS THIS ANYWAY?

We're asking for your help to produce and test the ROBOTBOAT MARK VI.  Each robotboat is fully autonomous, needs no fuel, and will bring to bear myriad sensors at remote points on the surface of oceans, lakes, and rivers.  Think of it as a satellite for the seas.

WHY?

We need lots of low-cost self-propelled robots to study the health of the world's water.  Never send a person to do a buoy's job!  The real value of this technology lies at the fleet level, but given the extremely high performance required of each boat, purchasing even a few of them is simply beyond our means.  Building one boat represents a huge step towards cheap data.  Building more than one boat will allow us to test swarming algorithms, implement complex communication schemes, and take greater risks (e.g. undertake longer, more challenging missions).
Bringing this opportunity to the kickstarter community will allow us to develop this technology MUCH FASTER than we could if we have to fund it ourselves;  the more resources we can raise here, the faster we can deliver.

WHY SHOULD I CARE?

Perhaps Lilly Tomlin said it best: "I said 'Somebody should do something about that.'  Then I realized I am somebody."
No matter where you stand on issues like climate change, marine conservation, offshore energy production etc., we hope you'll agree that everyone is better served by policies and behavior based on empirical scientific evidence.  We should all care about how we manage our water resources.
We think Robotboat is the best way yet to generate information about the world's oceans.

• More data = better ocean management
• Fully automatic = cheap to acquire data
• Fast = station-keep in high seas; get to points of interest quickly
• Durable = collect longitudinal data; self-righting
• Each boat = millions upon millions of datapoints

WHO ARE YOU?

Walt, Rob, TJ, and Eamon... Hi.
We're a professional engineering team.  Between us we hold 8 patents and have over fifty years of engineering experience.
Our principals (Walt & Rob respectively) founded these companies:
Planetary Systems Corp. and Tiger Innovations
TJ and Eamon have worked for Walt making satellite subsystems for the last few years (among other pursuits).  We've designed and executed dozens of successful missions.  We've produced space flight hardware, ground station equipment, and remote sensing systems for the most demanding customers in the world,  Collectively, our expertise is in developing robust mechatronics.

HOW ARE YOU GOING TO PULL THIS OFF?

We've built & tested 5 autonomous sailing robots over the last several years.

Our boats have completed hundreds of hours of fully autonomous navigation and traversed hundreds of kilometers on the water.
We've proved a robust sailing algorithm.  In the GPS trace below you can see the boat complete upwind tacking maneuvers without human control.

We've completed the Robotboat Mark VI design.  We're going to build it like a surfboard; it will be incredibly strong and be capable of being rolled in waves indefinitely.

We won't quit.
Neither will the boats.  The Robotboat Mark VI features a patent pending self-righting mechanism, the first and only such system in existence.  It can prosecute targets day or night, rain or shine, wind or doldrums, thanks to its advanced wing sail and assistive electric propulsion system.
And... we'll need your help.  R&D of this nature is not cheap.

• Mechanical and electrical components = $40k
• Tooling (molds & dies) = $30k
• Average cost per test = $1k
• Expected test quantity = 10x
• TOTAL = $80,000

We're trying to build as many of these boats as possible. 

As soon as we receive this kickstart, we will execute the following schedule:

As your sponsorship allows us, we will undertake more ambitious missions in the next few months:
World Record

Trans-Atlantic Crossing

Measure oil leaks

Measure the Pacific Garbage Patch

Measure Boundary Currents (e.g. the Gulf Stream)

Measure Marine Life (video & acoustic)

Measure Icebergs

Measure Coral Reefs

Think bathtub/desktop size...
Special thanks to our international backers!  We'll have to ask you to help mitigate the extra shipping costs required to deliver your rewards.  For addresses outside the U.S.A. please add $8 for keychain / $15 for tshirt / $20 for 3D model / $35 for jacket to the appropriate rewards levels at right.
Thanks for checking out the Robotboat!!!

FAQ

• Seriously, you couldn't come up with a real name?
• It’s a catamaran! It’s going to flip!
• So what are these sensors you're talking about?
• Why would one want to use a Robotboat over a satellite?
• Have you tested the telemetry systems?
• What steps have you taken to avoid fouling?
• Will Robotboats pose a hazard to ships? How will you avoid other potential collisions and debris on the water?
• What kind of electrical hardware is 'under the hood'?
• Can this technology be used to make an 'autopilot' for recreational sailing?
• Can these things tow a sonar array?
• Wait a second, I heard sonar kills whales...
• Haven't we seen stuff like this before?
• Is this ever going to be open source?

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