There is soooooooo much potential humor in possible scenarios that it's
taking a great effort of will not to expand on your "list", Ben! But those
of us who scoff (another word I rarely get to use!) are probably descended
from our ancient ancestors who thought if we were meant to fly, we would
have been issued wings. I guess the world need off the wall thinkers and
tinkerers to ultimately move us forward.
But when he gets to the point of launching his little boat for crossing the
pond, he should really put little figurines on it, maybe one who looks like
the guy on the Mrs. Paul's Fishsticks package, including the foulies and
pipe! Can you imagine the reaction of a cruiser coming across this in the
middle of the ocean - especially if it's populated with tiny crew figurines?
And then have some sort of switch onboard that activated a recording
emanating from the figurines mouth when another boat comes close - asking
for Grey Poupon or something...
Steve Weinstein
S/V CAPTIVA
1997 Hunter 376, Hull #376
Sailing out of Oyster Bay, NY
All outgoing mail protected by VIPRE A/V
-----Original Message-----
From: Ben Okopnik
Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2012 7:36 PM
To: liveaboard@liveaboardonline.com
Subject: Re: [Liveaboard] If you're in the Atlantic watch out for this
On Wed, Jun 27, 2012 at 11:12:50PM +0000, Hugh Barrass (hbarrass) wrote:
> The POCV is a Proof Of Concept Vehicle. It's just a toy that is designed
> for cruising a lake for ~2 hours.
>
> He's still in the early planning stage for the one that
> might/could/potentially/maybe cross the Atlantic. The idea is that a small
> computer could contain a simple algorithm that will self-navigate (with
> GPS etc.) a tremendously long distance (not a huge stretch); a simple
> solar collector and drive train could power a vehicle for as long as the
> life of the hardware (a proven concept); and, of course, a lot of
> patience.
A phrase often seen for cases like this in the RISKS Digest - a list of
people highly experienced in engineering/aviation/computer risks and
failures - is "WHAT COULD *POSSIBLY* GO WRONG?" :)
Equipment failures
Salt encrustation on camera lenses (looks like an obstruction!)
Seagulls crapping on the solar panel
Bad weather
*REALLY* bad weather
Ships trying to "help" the poor lost boat
Fishermen, etc. who'd love a nice camera/GPS/computer/solar panel
Floating trash fouling the boat
A marlin that sees a nice little snack moving on the surface
[add 10000+ more non-predictable obstacles...]
Ben
--
OKOPNIK CONSULTING
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