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You can already get an autopilot for your boat for just a few thousand dollars. So there's really nearly zero efficiency gain from using an AI to "plot the safest, shortest, most efficient route." You don't need an AI aboard the ship to do that. A supercomputer back at HQ with instant access to the most recent weather reports can do that, then relay the route to the ship via satellite.

The only cost savings for what they're trying to do is eliminating the wages and supplies for the crew. Which as you point out involves the trade-off of nobody being aboard to fix stuff if it breaks en route.

What about autopilot for boats? Or a quadcopter autopilot? Sometimes it is the exact same autopilot hardware and software used on some hobby RC cars.

otherwise every aircraft flight would be a throw of the dice, as there is no solid-state means of creating radar

I'm going to let you google "solid state radar" and then get back to us with whatever you actually meant, because at least from a cursory check, what you said was bullshit.

Most "Radar Guided" are really semi-active homing, which means they home in on microwave energy radiated from an illuminating radar and reflected back from the target to the missile. The interesting part of this is the Airlander has a carbon-fiber skin, and carbon is a microwave sponge; so the radar cross-section is going to be pretty small, I wouldn't be surprised if commercial versions have Radar reflectors installed to make them more visible. In fact the airlander might be a very effective anti-radiation weapons platform.

According to the the user guide it uses 0.5A at 12V DC. That comes to 6 Watts by my calculations. Of course you would have to oversize your solar panel by greater than a factor of 2. I would go with something like this ICP Global Technology P/N 99M 25012 12V 1.2A trickle charger. It's a measly $179.99.

I wonder if I can get spare parts for it at my local West Marine store. ;) http://www.westmarine.com/

Hmmm. I wonder if I can get spare parts for it at http://www.westmarine.com/ :)

6 months on a sailboat should get you through 1 month of this data. Though, make sure you remember to stockup on your Marine supplies at http://www.westmarine.com/ They sell the coolest saftey gear that you will most definatly need after being distracted by so much data sifting.

About 2 years ago West Marine started selling a wireless version of a cell repeater meant for RV's and boats, now available through West Marine for about $500. No connection to the phone required, no license required either.
WM Model #:5903380
Phil

Good comment, I did make an inaccurate funny!

All fixed-mount marine VHF radios produced are now DSC enabled. This means that when you want to equip your boat, dingy, log raft, canoe, yacht....Whatever...the radio you purchase will either be an old design (West Marine has a large backstock of Standard Horizon's Eclipse+ radio) or DSC enabled. You will still need a GPS unit to feed data to the radio.

End result is that most individuals involved in boating will have a DSC radio and GPS in the very near future. This will save lives.

There will still be some die-hards I feel should be commended for relying on tried and true seamanship skills instead of gadgets. I know more than a few people, and several classes of racing boats that go so far as to BAN electronics on the boats (Ok, usually due to lack of batteries). For the racing classes, look up Highlander, Y-flyer, and J-21. The boats may be little more than dingy's to many people, and definitly daysailers to all, but they still have an ethic of not using electronics to alter how the boats are raced.

Phil

The article and the web site say this stuff is non-toxic. Copper is a well known biocide used in bottom paint to kill marine life that likes to live on boats. How is this any different (except for the lower price - it doesn't say "marine" on the lable).

Your breath comes out at apporximately[sic] body temperature ~.

Riiiiight. So that means that your car won't start if you just drank a cold soda or hot coffee. Or you have a fever. Or the air is humid or dry. Or it is winter and you are in Chicago when the wind is blowing off the lake.

Rather than rely on urban legend like how sucking on pennies or eating underwear will make your breath heat up to "body temperature" and then you'll pass the test, you can get the actual scientific information behind how a breathalyser works.

On the other hand, this plus this will make any NM car drivable by even the drunkest felon.

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Q. How do you know you're posting on slashdot?

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The service is not available. Please try again later.

Ok.. Internet access is tough get in out of the way places, but if E-Mail is all you want, you have several options:

SailMail, PinOak, or other SSB EMail: You'll need a Single Side Band reciever and a terminal node modem (a fancy accoustic modem) PinOak and several other companies provide SLOW email over the SSB airwaves for a low fee. If free (like beer, and kinda like speech) is what you want, look at SailMail. A network of volunteer HAM radio buffs around the world and a handful of free windows software make up a pretty good free solution

Satelite: Garmin's GSC-100 is a dandy little handheld GPS/Satelite EMail Gadget. Ususally theyre around $1000 but Garmin is selling them off for $99 plus like 3 years service. Check out West Marine and they'll hook you up (Yes, I work there). There are also some more expensive, larger satelite solutions like C-Sat which can also provide phone and data calls (At like $2/min!) but those require a greater starting cost.

Feel free to email me if you have questions!