
BlueRobotics – T100 Underwater Thruster - slackpad
http://www.bluerobotics.com/
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todayiamme
I've experimented with building a submersible robot and - by far - the most
challenging aspect of the build was creating an interface between the motor
and the propellor that was waterproof in a reliable way. (applying grease or
something hydrophobic on a shaft lasts only so long)

By abstracting away that schlep for me, - a schlep, which is usually the least
interesting bit about a machine - these guys might be able to create something
analogous to Arduino for marine robots. Before Arduino, you needed a complete
test bed to get a micro-controller up and running. After Arduino, you usually
focus on what you want to do, instead of getting the micro-controller to work.
That shift makes creating something extremely accessible, allowing anyone to
jump in and try things out. A line of products like these, might actually make
robotics far more accessible than any number of kits before it. In other
words, this could be the start of something incredible.

Edit: I just realised another way of phrasing what they're doing. Imagine how
hard payments was before Stripe came along. These people are basically the
Stripe for marine robotics, which is really awesome.

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qwerta
> the most challenging aspect of the build was creating an interface between
> the motor and the propellor that was waterproof in a reliable way.

There does not have to be interface. Put stator inside and rotor outside,
aquarium pumps works on similar principle.

~~~
HeyLaughingBoy
The losses across that gap are expensive, though. Aquarium impellers are
moving water at very low pressures.

It works if the isolation layer is very thin. However, that prevents you from
going deep because of the pressure differential. Now, I wonder if you filled
the sub with something inert and kept the layer thin, then the pressure
differential would be a lot less and the layer a lot less likely to rip open.
Might work.

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Game_Ender
A similar company is SeaBotix [0] they have a similar [1] thruster for sale
but it uses a brushed motor. They have a newer generation product (not
separately listed) that uses brushless motors that has integrated motor
controller so all you need to do is send it power and I2C speed commands.

For people interested in this I recommend checking out the RobotSub [2]
competition. Each team releases papers allowing you to see how the whole
vehicle fits together.

0 - [http://www.seabotix.com/](http://www.seabotix.com/)

1 -
[http://www.seabotix.com/products/auv_thrusters.htm](http://www.seabotix.com/products/auv_thrusters.htm)

2 -
[http://www.auvsifoundation.org/foundation/competitions/robos...](http://www.auvsifoundation.org/foundation/competitions/robosub/)

~~~
kevinchen
I did RoboSub for 4 years (probably the best thing a student can do to become
a better engineer. That's another story for another day). The only issue with
the SeaBotix thrusters is that you have to take off a screw and inject grease
into them every year or so.

No indication of how BlueRobotics' thruster actually fixes this problem other
than the fact that they claim they fixed it.

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kybernetyk
Something I wanted to ask for a long time:

> Many of the T100′s components are American made and sourced. It’s assembled
> in the USA. We’re proud of that.

Is that "made in the USA" thing really such a big selling point in the US?
Because to me as an European that really is a little alienating. A "made in
the US" logo - ok. But pointing out the proudness in marketing materials?
Strange.

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agildehaus
There's a feeling that manufacturing jobs are leaving the US at a quick rate,
that anything we can do to keep them here is a 'good thing', and supporting
companies that keep jobs here is equally good. Marketing as such is therefore
just trying to take advantage of that.

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ipsin
Another interesting alternative to a traditional motor is the "Slocum Glider",
which dives and propels itself through the water by pumping oil between its
body and an external bladder.

[http://www.whoi.edu/main/slocum-glider](http://www.whoi.edu/main/slocum-
glider)

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underwater_glider](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underwater_glider)

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tgb
I've used thrusters in the $1000+ range and they tend to need maintenance
every several hundred hours of use in nearly ideal situations. This isn't an
easy project and can be very difficult for student groups (for example) to get
right or to get affordable. Good luck to this project.

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dominotw
Wow this looks amazing.

I feel left out in the coming 'robotics revolution'. I am planning to take a
couple of years off from work and switch careers into something robotics. I've
been building my math base past couple of months, but I am utterly clueless as
to where to even start with robotics.

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njharman
> where to even start with robotics

With an EE, CS, or ME degree? Minor in biology. Nature has made by far the
best robots. Definitely useful to learn from it.

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Zikes
I once read a fascinating article about a grasshopper(?) that uses such a fast
and sudden movement to jump that the only way it could keep its two legs in
sync was with a biological "gear", with teeth and everything.

Edit: Found it: [http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/this-insect-
has...](http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/this-insect-has-the-only-
mechanical-gears-ever-found-in-nature-6480908/?no-ist)

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tlarkworthy
presumably this?
[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/847478159/the-t100-a-ga...](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/847478159/the-t100-a-game-
changing-underwater-thruster?ref=card)

I am worried they allow water running through the assembly, sea water is very
corrosive and can't be in contact with any interesting materials (e.g. high
performance magnets). /*

/* ok they use plastic bearings and stuff, not sure what the magnets are.

~~~
ChuckMcM
Thanks for the link, so they are using a brushless motor. I really like that
solution for water integrity. I would guess they seal the magnets in epoxy.
That would make it reasonably durable.

The surfboard is interesting. Having listened to some of the issues the wave-
glider ran into in order to operate autonomously on the ocean I expect the
same sort of folks will come talk to them. I heard a story (and it could be
just that), that one of the wave glider experiments was going to be to count
whales along the California coast, the plan was to put an active sonar pinger
on the robot and ping once an hour to see if there were any whales nearby. The
story goes that the project was shelved when the Navy called and informed them
they would not be putting active sonar pingers into US coastal waters.

~~~
lotsofmangos
_the Navy called and informed them they would not be putting active sonar
pingers into US coastal waters_

This makes no sense. Active sonar pingers are on pretty much all boats apart
from small dingies.

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kanwisher
Extremely excited about this project. Anyone that wants to get into robotics
for the ocean should check out [http://www.amazon.com/Underwater-Robotics-
Science-Design-Fab...](http://www.amazon.com/Underwater-Robotics-Science-
Design-Fabrication/dp/0984173706)

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austinz
My senior engineering project in college was the development of a GPS-guided
robotic boat for recreational purposes. Our team consisted of three electrical
engineers with very little machine design experience (this was just the first
of many aspects of this endeavor which were hilariously ill-thought out), so
we ended up bashing together a makeshift thruster out of plumbing fittings and
an electric trolling motor, with predictably awful results.

Seeing this brought back memories. A self-contained thruster unit intended for
integration into a larger robot might just have saved our project, had it been
available four years ago.

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based2
[http://liquidr.com/](http://liquidr.com/)

[http://nighthacks.com/roller/jag/](http://nighthacks.com/roller/jag/)

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spiritplumber
Looks a lot like what we did for OpenROV.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8q4CirrIgWo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8q4CirrIgWo)

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owenversteeg
Wow, looks great! I don't have much interest in making a boat, but this looks
like a great Kickstarter.

Also, the thrust and efficiency looks crazy good on those! At 50% it looks
like 1.2kg + what looks like 30g/W, which is insane efficiency compared to
multirotor motors on the market now. I'm guessing the fact that you're in
water helps substantially with that, right?

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ranran876
It seems like they should have waited for the surfboard thing to make it's
journey before launching the kickstarter. It would have made the project seem
a lot more credible. Like another poster mentioned, I'm sure a lot of drug
traffickers would be willing to invest if it's proven to work

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wainstead
This and Saildrone promise a very exciting future for ocean exploration and
data gathering.

[http://www.wired.com/2014/02/saildrone/](http://www.wired.com/2014/02/saildrone/)

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unepipe
Can't wait to attach a gopro and make an underwater drone.

~~~
makeset
I never thought aerial hobby drones were that interesting, but that sounds
fascinating, as you'd be looking around in an environment seldom experienced
otherwise.

~~~
sixdimensional
I've wanted to do this and get an Oculus in the mix as well!

~~~
larubbio
After reading this[1] xkcd post about the ROV he built, I've wanted to try and
build a similar one when my son is old enough. Then after seeing the Oculus +
drone video I wanted to add that in as well and go "diving" in Puget Sound

[1]
[http://blog.xkcd.com/2010/11/05/submarines/](http://blog.xkcd.com/2010/11/05/submarines/)

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jfb
I am interested, tangentially, in an AR display that would fit into my dive
mask. I wonder how hard this would be?

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alexissantos
"What's an underwear thruster? ... Oh, wait."

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knodi
I beat drug smugglers will love to use something like this.

~~~
sdfjkl
They already have submarines: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narco-
submarine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narco-submarine)

~~~
ranran876
This would be unmanned and cost a fraction

~~~
b_emery
Interesting idea. Compared to a submarine yes, but what this would more likely
be up against, from the perspective of cost is a panga boat:

[http://www.independent.com/news/2012/jul/26/13-people-
arrest...](http://www.independent.com/news/2012/jul/26/13-people-arrested-
panga-boat-gaviota-coast/)

"The push out to sea is spurred by increased crackdowns on the border, and
pangas loaded with multiple fuel barrels have been spotted as far north as San
Francisco. The Los Angeles and Long Beach areas have seen a similar increase
in incidents."

Lets see, to ship ~$6 million worth of pot paying someone a small fraction to
drive a boat up the coast, plus a few thousand for a boat, I'm not seeing a
reason why they'd want to make a drone sub to do this.

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diminoten
Can someone name a successful, on-time, major hardware kickstarter project?

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TeMPOraL
Can someone name a successful, on-time _project_? You're setting the bar quite
high, aren't you?

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diminoten
The Oculus Rift kickstarter seems to have been delivered on-time.

