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051 - SHA2017 - Open ROV
72 Plays7 years ago
Underwater ROVs on Lake Tahoe
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Transcript
Introduction and Conference Context
00:00:18
Speaker
Okay, this is Chris Webster. I'm at the 50th Annual Society for Historical and Underwater Archaeology Conference, I always forget the underwater, in snowy Fort Worth, Texas. And we're in the noisy exhibit hall, and I'm with Eric Stackpole of Open ROV. Eric, what do you got going on here at the conference? Well, we brought some of these robotic submarines we have.
00:00:24
Speaker
You are listening to the Archaeology Podcast Network.
Innovations in Underwater Exploration
00:00:39
Speaker
Maybe people would be more familiar with the concept of an underwater drone. But basically, these devices we build can go down to 100 meters underwater, they can send live video up to the surface,
00:00:48
Speaker
and you fly them around just like a drone or playing a video game. And what we hope is that by making this kind of low-cost tool, a lot of people can explore parts of the world no one's seen before.
00:01:01
Speaker
So anyway, this is the first time we've been at the SHA conference. We've found that there are a lot of archaeological departments that don't really have very much money. They have a lot of research underwater that they'd like to do, but traditional ROV submarines have been way too expensive. Usually also, they require a lot of expertise and training to use.
Building and Operating ROVs
00:01:21
Speaker
What we've really been working on is sort of democratizing that capability, putting this in the hands of everyday people. It can be used by a grad student, it can be used by a high schooler, but they're pretty capable and with the technology available today, I think they'll keep on surprising people with just what they can do.
00:01:39
Speaker
So are you doing this for people? Do they contract you to do it? Or are you selling these and teaching them how to use it? Oh, that's a great question. Yeah, so we, for the last five years or so, have been selling kits for our ROV submarines.
Features of the Trident Vehicle
00:01:51
Speaker
ROV, by the way, stands for Remotely Operated Vehicle. And so the way it works is someone buys the kit from us. We have all the parts you need to build this thing. And over the course of a few weekends, they can put this thing together.
00:02:03
Speaker
Then you just go into the water and try it out. We don't have any formal courses in flying it, but on our webpage in the instructions, it kind of describes generally what to do. Most people pick it up pretty quickly. We find that people under 10 years old are often the best pilots.
00:02:19
Speaker
Nice, nice, and what kind of stuff, I mean what kind of equipment, sensing equipment is on these ROVs, like what can you see under the water or detect? Right, well definitely the main payload is the camera, it's got an excellent camera, the kit we have is pretty good, it's just actually an off-the-shelf webcam but it's a pretty good resolution.
00:02:38
Speaker
You know color USB webcam the new vehicle that we're coming out with that will be shipping this summer We're pre-selling it on our website right now called Trident has a really good camera We spent about six months in development. It's a HD, you know 1080p really good low light sensitivity good color rendition camera
Technical Capabilities of ROVs
00:02:58
Speaker
And so that's the main payload, of course, and there's a lot of things you can do with imagery even beyond just what meets the eye. On board, we also have a depth sensor that's accurate to about a centimeter. We have a 9-axis inertial measurement unit that has a magnetometer or a gyro and an accelerometer.
00:03:15
Speaker
The depth sensor also has a temperature sensor, and of course there's a lot of onboard telemetry that's useful. And then in terms of output, we have the three motors that allow it to move through the water horizontally, rotate, and vertical. And then also, it's got lights externally.
Environmental Challenges at Lake Tahoe
00:03:30
Speaker
So if you're in a dark place or if you're in water that's so deep that you don't have much ambient light, it can see in those situations as well.
00:03:36
Speaker
Yeah, you don't have to get too far down Lake Tahoe to get into a dark place, do you? No, I mean, Lake Tahoe is probably one of the best places of all just because it has relatively good clarity. But even still, you know, if we're doing a hundred meter dive, it's dark. Those shallow shelf areas on the north end of the lake. And I think some of those other areas that I've been out there in a sailboat with a drop keel on it. You really got to watch it when the lake levels. Oh, yeah. Yeah, it's amazing. I mean, these things change over time in areas that were once deep and suddenly are shallow.
00:04:02
Speaker
Right. My friend's boat, we couldn't put it in on the north end. We had to put it in on the south end because of the way it goes. Boat ramps are closed, right? In some places. They probably are
Further Information and Future Content
00:04:09
Speaker
now. Yeah. Yeah. Totally. All right. Well, where can people find out more about what you're doing? Yeah. Definitely. People should check out our website, openrov.com. And we'll be selling the kits and shipping them right away if they're interested in Trident. They should click on that and they can pre-order now to kind of save their place in line for when we ship this summer.
00:04:31
Speaker
Okay. And we haven't set a date yet, but look out for a longer form podcast where we talk about more projects and things on the Archaeotech podcast. I'm looking forward to it. Awesome. Thanks a lot, Eric. This has been a presentation of the Archaeology Podcast Network. Visit us on the web for show notes and other podcasts at www.archaeologypodcastnetwork.com. Contact us at chrisatarchaeologypodcastnetwork.com.