Company
Date Published
Author
Colin Steele
Word count
905
Language
English
Hacker News points
None

Summary

Project Bob is an ambitious endeavor led by Andrew McCalip, aiming to be the first autonomous boat to circumnavigate the globe, utilizing open-source tools and a custom Grafana Cloud dashboard for monitoring. The 14-foot solar-powered vessel will rely on real-time data collection through onboard cameras, sensors, and a Starlink antenna to stream live video and telemetry data to the public. McCalip, known for his innovative projects and extensive online following, initiated Project Bob through a successful Kickstarter campaign, leading a team of engineers to design an energy-efficient, self-sustaining drone boat capable of recovering from failures autonomously. The boat operates on a Raspberry Pi 4 with multiple Docker containers and uses a robust data pipeline to ensure its functionality and public engagement. Despite challenges such as Wi-Fi disconnections and the necessity for the boat to travel over 25,000 miles across major oceans without human intervention, the team is determined to achieve this world-record-setting goal.