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Underwater Robotics Hack Chat

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Wednesday, February 5, 2025 12:00 pm PST Local time zone:
Hack Chat
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Tony White will host the Hack Chat on Wednesday, February 5 at noon Pacific.

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Almost anywhere you look, there's a good chance you can see a robot at work. Whether they're sweeping your floors, delivering a snack, building a car, or even driving one, robots are everywhere on this planet. And since over 70% of this planet is covered in water, it makes sense that robots should be there, too. Getting a robot to work underwater at all is one thing, but getting it to work underwater reliably can be quite a challenge. Water always finds a way to ruin your day, after all, and this reality only worsens when you add a little salt into the mix. 

Tony White knows the marine engineering field well, having worked in the space for over a decade. He's currently an applications engineer at Blue Robotics, where he's worked on everything from full-size autonomous surface vessels to underwater swarm robots. He's stopping by the Hack Chat to talk about the harsh engineering realities of underwater automation, so if you've ever wanted to take the plunge, you'll want to come to this Hack Chat for sure.

  • Chat Transcript, Page 1

    Tom Nardi02/06/2025 at 03:02 0 comments

    Dan Maloney  3:00 PM
    OK, hello all, let's kick it off. Welcome to the Hack Chat, I'm Dan and I'll be modding along with Dusan (I think) as we talk about underwater robotics with Tony White. Not sure I saw him log in yet, though -- are you out there Tony?
    Tony White  3:00 PM
    Hi everyone! Happy to join you today and talk about some cool stuff! A bit about me - Generally I consider myself a jack of all trades, with a speciality in rapid prototyping subsea and ocean surface applications. I’ve always enjoyed the water, followed that thread throughout my life, and have really grown into engineering in the medium with scuba diving and all manner of waterborne electromechanical systems testing. From recovering sensors to mapping surf breaks, so much is possible!
    Dan Maloney  3:00 PM
    Hi Tony, welcome aboard!
    Tony White  3:00 PM
    My career was launched with this project at Georgia Tech, over a decade ago! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRv9uShOFTI
    hackerman49  3:01 PM
    How was academia life at Georgia Tech?
    Tony White  3:02 PM
    Tough! no grade inflation to be had there! Being on the water with the rowing team kept me sane
    Tony White  3:02 PM
    After doing autonomous survey vessels in Louisiana / England with C&C Technologies / ASV Ltd., I went off to LA to develop swarm robotics and began working with Blue Robotics! This is a fun video too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNYzljKr_wY
    Dan Maloney  3:02 PM
    Little bit of aside but still relevant, might kick off some discussion: We were talking in our editorial meeting yesterday about the submersible Alvin, which was built in 1964 and is still in operation? How do you think is that even possible?
    Dan Maloney  3:03 PM
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DSV_Alvin
    Tony White  3:03 PM
    Yes! I have some friends that have served as pilots to it
    Tony White  3:04 PM
    It was built tough - titanium spheres, and lots of expensive materials. That said, I'm sure much has been renovated on it and refreshed over the years, particularly the controlling tech. It's capable of reaching some pretty incredible depths!
    Dan Maloney  3:05 PM
    That's what we figured -- probably everything on the original vessel has bee replaced over the decades. Still, it's pretty amazing that it got this far
    hackerman49  3:05 PM
    Very thorough engineering to be running since '64
    Tony White  3:06 PM
    for sure! The ocean is pretty unforgiving, especially when it comes to corrosion. I'm more impressed by ships / boats - they exist at the most consistently violent place on earth - the sea/air boundary, which never stops moving! And many are in service today that are older still!
    tt2005  3:06 PM
    There have been a series of major refits for DSV Alvin. I think the retired titanium spheres are on display on the WHOI campus in Woods Hole.
    Dan Maloney  3:06 PM
    I mean, I'm a '64 model year myself and I'm still running. Just barely, but...
    Tony White  3:07 PM
    😂
    Thomas Shaddack  3:07 PM
    Wouldn't the titanium sphere undergo work hardening/embrittlement? Isn't that the major problem with titanium submarines?
    Tony White  3:08 PM
    I'm not an expert in the materials science around the titanium used, but I do know that much of the titanium used in AUV spheres comes (came?) from Russia, which has been tough in recent years for the industry.
    Fred Fourie  3:08 PM
    Hi Tony! Blue Robotics has been doing some amazing stuff with regards to lowering the barrier to entry for the underwater community. Which advances/improvements do you see coming into play in the next ~5 years. Alternatively, what should we be focusing on to improve/lower these barriers more?
    CLamb  3:08 PM
    Have you worked on any underwater robots with umbilicals or were they all entirely...
    Read more »

  • Chat Transcript, Page 2

    Tom Nardi02/06/2025 at 03:02 0 comments

    amok.mcconnell  4:12 PM
    Omne usus duplicatus est.
    Tim McNerney  4:12 PM
    Yup, bio-fouling... I was researching that for a while. Everything likes to grow on your robot. We never tried getting past the two week mark.
    Thomas Shaddack  4:12 PM
    Thought. Superabsorbent polymers to immobilize leaks. If it gets into the enclosure, it can as well be prevented from sloshing around.
    Tony White  4:13 PM
    The silicon dessicant sometimes does just this! I'll use a papertowel if I know I have a leak and need to mitigate it for a short time - preventing sloshing is absolutely key
    Thomas Shaddack  4:13 PM
    Medical fields deal extensively with biofilms. Maybe they could have materials and tricks up their sleeves.
    Tony White  4:13 PM
    Omne usus duplicatus est. - love it @amok.mcconnell
    Tony White  4:13 PM
    there are solutions to biofouling, but unfortunately they are (literally) poison to the ocean, because they have to be!
    Tony White  4:14 PM
    copper in anti-fouling paints is being phased out in many places as a result
    Thomas Shaddack  4:14 PM
    THANKS for the Latin!
    amok.mcconnell  4:14 PM
    There was a study of shark skins by James cook university 20 years ago, on the use of surface microgrooves to deter barnacles on ships. It kinda works.
    Thomas Shaddack  4:14 PM
    Copper metal? Textured teflon?
    Tim McNerney  4:15 PM
    @shaddack The marine industry has been dealing with bio-fouling forever. As Tony points out, it is the toxicity of anti-fouling paints that has become an issue more recently. I've never tried building a robot entirely out of copper. Is that disallowed too?
    Tony White  4:16 PM
    teflon - that's a lot of forever chemicals to put in the environment!
    Tim McNerney  4:16 PM
    @amok.mcconnel I looked into the "shark skin" patterning. Looks promising. No toxins.
    Thomas Shaddack  4:17 PM
    There are some newly discovered germs that eat the "forever" things.
    Tony White  4:18 PM
    I hope so!
    Thomas Shaddack  4:18 PM
    Thought. Controlled release of metal ions from surface by electrochemically modulated corrosion. Something like sacrificial anodes but the other way, and only when needed and where needed.
    Tony White  4:20 PM
    You're definitely an idea guy @Thomas Shaddack
    amok.mcconnell  4:20 PM
    The manufacturing process is basically an embossing of plastic using patterned micro-etched plates. It would need development to be adapted for odd curved surfaces.
    Tony White  4:20 PM
    For anyone still here, I just started this livestream. I'll try to monitor both this and that chat at the same time! https://youtube.com/live/3WR2bp3m36g
    Thomas Shaddack  4:25 PM
    Yup. Ideas are fun to play with! Often there are solutions already out there, just hiding in some seemingly unrelated field.
    Tony White  4:26 PM
    Thanks for all the interesting chats folks! Feel free to reach out anytime - tony@bluerobotics or via our support form https://bluerobotics.com/contact/#contact-us-form
    Dan Maloney  4:27 PM
    Thanks Tony, really appreciate the time. Great discussion, I learned a lot. Thanks all, see you next time
    Nicolas Tremblay  4:29 PM
    Thanks @Tony White
    Thomas Shaddack  4:43 PM
    Random thought re the tether. Ukraine battlefield uses drones with optical fibers to work around jammers. Can the same tech be leveraged, possibly even as a surplus once the hostilities end and the toys hit the markets?
    Thomas Shaddack  4:46 PM
    Random thought. Could the autofocus be implemented outside of the camera, eg. in a module of the cockpit software?
    Tony White  4:53 PM
    I hope someone develops some sort of autofocus this way, yes, but it will be challenging!
    Tony White  4:54 PM
    Fiber optics have...
    Read more »

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