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Raspberry Pi heads for the open ocean
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Raspberry Pi heads for the open ocean
By Mark Ward, Technology correspondent
BBC News
March 20, 2013
Early tests have put a Pi-controlled concept craft
through its paces in calm waters
In the same way that sport reveals character, the
Raspberry Pi is revealing the creativity of the people
who own one of the barebones computers.
Confronted with that tiny device, some have seen a way to
play old arcade games, as a media server or to monitor
their sleeping children. There are some that have used a
Pi to control balloons that float to the edge of space.
And then there is Greg Holloway.
On receiving his Raspberry Pi, Mr Holloway did not want
to try anything that he calls "a bit run of the mill".
So, he thought big. Almost as big as it gets.
His Raspberry Pi will be used to control a robot boat
that will pilot itself across the Atlantic Ocean. If the
little craft succeeds in crossing thousands of miles of
ocean, it will have completed a task that currently can
only be done by robots that cost more than �200,000. Not
bad for a gadget that cost only a few quid.
"I just wanted to do something a bit more adventurous,"
he said.
Long voyage
Work on the Fish Pi hardware and software has now been
under way for about 12 months. It has got beyond the
concept stage and now, said Mr Holloway, he has all but
completed tests on the hardware that will be on-board the
finished robot craft.
Early plans suggested the finished Fish Pi might be a
trimaran
The Pi will be at the centre of the small, solar-powered
craft, taking in data from sensors that measure the
environment through which the ship is sailing.
The Pi will not just log data but will be constantly
called on throughout the voyage to control the speed of
the craft's engine and work out which direction it should
sail. It will have to be robust as the journey across the
Atlantic is likely to take a few months.
Also on board will be an anti-collision system that will
help the craft avoid bumping into human-piloted ships
while on the open ocean.
The Raspberry Pi will also handle communication with the
control centre on land and constantly report its
position.
"We should have complete two-way communication," he said.
All the hardware has been installed on a proof-of-concept
(POC) vehicle that will act as a test bed so early bugs
can be ruled out before being transferred to the final
roving robot craft.
Kit idea
The proof-of-concept vehicle is only about 12in (30cm)
long and all the components sit in the hull of a model
boat.
"I built the POC to get familiar with the components and
concepts," he said, "I've never done anything like this
before."
The Fish Pi that will be venturing across the Atlantic
will be much bigger than the concept vehicle. Early plans
suggest it will be about 5ft 6in (1.7m) long, a foot
(90cm) wide and its hull will be made of carbon fibre.
Development costs will be about �15,000, estimates Mr
Holloway.
Ultimately, Mr Holloways hopes to recoup his costs by
putting together a kit that anyone can buy to turn their
Pi into a robot boat.
Autonomous sea-going craft are widely used in
oceanographic research
Already, he said, he has had interest from oceanographers
keen to cut the cost of the craft they send out to gather
data.
Software to help the Pi control the craft is being
written by project member Al Gray and should be finished
soon. With that installed and on-board, proper water
trials will begin. Mr Holloway has permission from a
local model boat club to use its lake as a proving
ground.
Mr Holloway admits that the scale of the project has been
daunting.
"We all have day jobs," he said of the project members,
"so it's taking a bit longer than I anticipated."
This also makes him reluctant to commit to a firm launch
date for a finished Fish Pi.
However, he's confident that the water trials will start
soon and that then work will begin in earnest on the
full-scale robot boat. Mr Holloway is undaunted by the
sheer difficulty of what he and his fellow project
members are taking on.
"It's a serious project," he told the BBC. "You cannot
take on the Atlantic on a whim."
More on This Story
Related Stories
Robots ride the ocean blue 12 DECEMBER 2012, TECHNOLOGY
Pi and the rise of small computers 27 FEBRUARY 2013, TECHNOLOGY
Cheaper Raspberry Pi goes on sale 05 FEBRUARY 2013, TECHNOLOGY
Sky high success for Raspberry Pi 19 JULY 2012, TECHNOLOGY
Related Internet links
FishPi http://fishpi.org/
Raspberry Pi http://www.raspberrypi.org/
More at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21848104
Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.fan.jai-maharaj
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expressed by others are not necessarily those of the
poster who may or may not have read the article.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted
material the use of which may or may not have been
specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This
material is being made available in efforts to advance
the understanding of environmental, political, human
rights, economic, democratic, scientific, social, and
cultural, etc., issues. It is believed that this
constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material
as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the
material on this site is distributed without profit to
those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving
the included information for research, comment,
discussion and educational purposes by subscribing to
USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more
information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article
for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you
must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Since newsgroup posts are being removed by forgery by one
or more net terrorists, this post may be reposted several
times.
By Mark Ward, Technology correspondent
BBC News
March 20, 2013
Early tests have put a Pi-controlled concept craft
through its paces in calm waters
In the same way that sport reveals character, the
Raspberry Pi is revealing the creativity of the people
who own one of the barebones computers.
Confronted with that tiny device, some have seen a way to
play old arcade games, as a media server or to monitor
their sleeping children. There are some that have used a
Pi to control balloons that float to the edge of space.
And then there is Greg Holloway.
On receiving his Raspberry Pi, Mr Holloway did not want
to try anything that he calls "a bit run of the mill".
So, he thought big. Almost as big as it gets.
His Raspberry Pi will be used to control a robot boat
that will pilot itself across the Atlantic Ocean. If the
little craft succeeds in crossing thousands of miles of
ocean, it will have completed a task that currently can
only be done by robots that cost more than �200,000. Not
bad for a gadget that cost only a few quid.
"I just wanted to do something a bit more adventurous,"
he said.
Long voyage
Work on the Fish Pi hardware and software has now been
under way for about 12 months. It has got beyond the
concept stage and now, said Mr Holloway, he has all but
completed tests on the hardware that will be on-board the
finished robot craft.
Early plans suggested the finished Fish Pi might be a
trimaran
The Pi will be at the centre of the small, solar-powered
craft, taking in data from sensors that measure the
environment through which the ship is sailing.
The Pi will not just log data but will be constantly
called on throughout the voyage to control the speed of
the craft's engine and work out which direction it should
sail. It will have to be robust as the journey across the
Atlantic is likely to take a few months.
Also on board will be an anti-collision system that will
help the craft avoid bumping into human-piloted ships
while on the open ocean.
The Raspberry Pi will also handle communication with the
control centre on land and constantly report its
position.
"We should have complete two-way communication," he said.
All the hardware has been installed on a proof-of-concept
(POC) vehicle that will act as a test bed so early bugs
can be ruled out before being transferred to the final
roving robot craft.
Kit idea
The proof-of-concept vehicle is only about 12in (30cm)
long and all the components sit in the hull of a model
boat.
"I built the POC to get familiar with the components and
concepts," he said, "I've never done anything like this
before."
The Fish Pi that will be venturing across the Atlantic
will be much bigger than the concept vehicle. Early plans
suggest it will be about 5ft 6in (1.7m) long, a foot
(90cm) wide and its hull will be made of carbon fibre.
Development costs will be about �15,000, estimates Mr
Holloway.
Ultimately, Mr Holloways hopes to recoup his costs by
putting together a kit that anyone can buy to turn their
Pi into a robot boat.
Autonomous sea-going craft are widely used in
oceanographic research
Already, he said, he has had interest from oceanographers
keen to cut the cost of the craft they send out to gather
data.
Software to help the Pi control the craft is being
written by project member Al Gray and should be finished
soon. With that installed and on-board, proper water
trials will begin. Mr Holloway has permission from a
local model boat club to use its lake as a proving
ground.
Mr Holloway admits that the scale of the project has been
daunting.
"We all have day jobs," he said of the project members,
"so it's taking a bit longer than I anticipated."
This also makes him reluctant to commit to a firm launch
date for a finished Fish Pi.
However, he's confident that the water trials will start
soon and that then work will begin in earnest on the
full-scale robot boat. Mr Holloway is undaunted by the
sheer difficulty of what he and his fellow project
members are taking on.
"It's a serious project," he told the BBC. "You cannot
take on the Atlantic on a whim."
Related Stories
Robots ride the ocean blue 12 DECEMBER 2012, TECHNOLOGY
Pi and the rise of small computers 27 FEBRUARY 2013, TECHNOLOGY
Cheaper Raspberry Pi goes on sale 05 FEBRUARY 2013, TECHNOLOGY
Sky high success for Raspberry Pi 19 JULY 2012, TECHNOLOGY
Related Internet links
FishPi http://fishpi.org/
Raspberry Pi http://www.raspberrypi.org/
More at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21848104
Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.fan.jai-maharaj
o o o
o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used
for the educational purposes of research and open
discussion. The contents of this post may not have been
authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion
of the poster. The contents are protected by copyright
law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
o If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely
not be read, considered or answered if it does not
contain your full legal name, current e-mail and postal
addresses, and live-voice telephone number.
o Posted for information and discussion. Views
expressed by others are not necessarily those of the
poster who may or may not have read the article.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted
material the use of which may or may not have been
specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This
material is being made available in efforts to advance
the understanding of environmental, political, human
rights, economic, democratic, scientific, social, and
cultural, etc., issues. It is believed that this
constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material
as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the
material on this site is distributed without profit to
those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving
the included information for research, comment,
discussion and educational purposes by subscribing to
USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more
information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article
for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you
must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Since newsgroup posts are being removed by forgery by one
or more net terrorists, this post may be reposted several
times.
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