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I’m curious about why they aren’t using robotics to driver food - seems like it would be safer than having human divers go back and forth
by elil17 8y ago
I’m curious about why they aren’t using robotics to driver food - seems like it would be safer than having human divers go back and forth
- robotresearcher 8y agoYou can't drag 1km of tough power and control cable behind a little robot, and autonomous robots aren't up to the job yet.
- willyt 8y agoThis thing has a 2km long fibre optic tether and is battery powered. Been in use since 2001. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seafox_drone https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seafox_drone
- robotresearcher 8y agoCool. But that vehicle is open underwater only. These caves are a mixture of swimming, walking and climbing. Lots of power required, and very tough to teleoperate.
- cellularmitosis 8y agoI'd imagine the psychological relief of seeing a human being rather than a robot has a lot to do with it.
- JshWright 8y agoIt has nothing to do with it... Robots are not an option because it's a zero visibility environment (cameras for remote operation are useless).
- cellularmitosis 8y agoI'm happy to stand corrected. However, zero visual visibility doesn't seem like a limitation for a remotely piloted robot. Can't they just as easily use sonar, radar, or some other form of non-optical "vision"? Fishermen use "fish finders" which are non-optical, so I'd guess the tech is pervasive and cheap.
- JshWright 8y agoI don't expect sonar would work well in turbulent water, with highly reflective (rock) jagged cave walls.
- CydeWeys 8y agoBecause robots up to the task don't exist yet (and aren't even particularly close). It's a very hard problem.