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Ex-NATO scientist's toy boat 'Snoopy Sloop' set to sail across Atlantic
News Track India ^ | November 26, 2012

Posted on 11/26/2012 12:29:53 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife

London, Nov. 26 (ANI): A retired NATO scientist is all set to launch his toy boat on its first unmanned trip across the Atlantic.

The creator, 65-year-old Robin Lovelock, has spent four years developing a craft he believes can survive the 6,000-mile journey. The boat, named Snoopy Sloop, is 4 feet long, weighs just 30lbs and is held together in parts by bathroom light cord, reports the Telegraph.

The boat has already demonstrated its endurance, having completed more than 5,000 miles during seven months of continuous sailing, albeit on the gentler waters of Bray Lake, just off the M4 motorway near Windsor.

Lovelock built the boat using off-the-shelf parts that he bought from the internet at a cost of less than 450 pounds. A tracking device will emit a signal every hour to update Lovelock back home about the boat's progress. The boat will be powered by the wind, but navigated by a solar-powered computer and GPS system.

These will control the rudder and steer the boat on a preprogrammed route along the Channel, then south towards the Azores to catch the trade winds to the Bahamas and onwards to land near the spot where the Pilgrim Fathers came ashore at Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Lovelock's attempt is being made as part of an international contest, the Microtransat Challenge, to become the first to send an unmanned from south of Ireland to the Bahamas.

So far, three attempts have been made since the transatlantic challenge began in 2010 - two by French academics and one by a team from the University of Aberystwyth.

The small figure of the cartoon character Snoopy on board was installed "as a wind up to academics who take it too seriously".

Lovelock is relaxed about some of the hazards and concerned about others.

"There are certain things to worry about and others not to. The likely problems will be with reliability, and how the navigation system works with the tides. I got hooked about four years ago. I didn't even play with model boats when I was a boy. I sometimes tinker on the boat in the lounge, but am usually banished to the games room by my wife," he said.


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: atlanticcrossing; boating; challenge; pilgrams
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

The new Royal Navy.


41 posted on 11/26/2012 5:42:08 AM PST by Lockbar (Quality factory loaded ammunition ---- The New Gold)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

I think this is great. I’m going to show the kids on our LEGO robotics team. They send an “unmanned” vehicle across a table. This guy is doing the whole ocean.

Also, who knows? Maybe some scientific knowledge will come out of it. Remember when the rubber ducks spilled and floated across the Pacific? Scientists learned things about the currents that they never knew.

Of course, there is the political angle to consider. If this thing works, we can expect Obama to downsize the navy even more!


42 posted on 11/26/2012 7:11:30 AM PST by married21 (As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.)
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To: Yo-Yo

Thanks for the link. It does appear a challenging undertaking.


43 posted on 11/26/2012 9:14:00 AM PST by BlueDragon (in essentials, unity; in doubtful matters, liberty; in all things, charity)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Already been done: in the air with a model plane !!!

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2003-08-13/news/0308130252_1_spirit-of-butts-farm-maynard-hill-model-maker


44 posted on 11/26/2012 9:23:55 AM PST by beebuster2000
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To: Cincinatus' Wife; All

http://youtu.be/R-LHy3CyBa8


45 posted on 11/26/2012 9:33:52 AM PST by SWAMPSNIPER (The Second Amendment,a Matter of Fact,Not a Matter of Opinion)
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To: SWAMPSNIPER

Thank you for the video link!

Ha.....”Long suffering June” must be his wife. :)


46 posted on 11/26/2012 2:21:14 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: beebuster2000
From your link: "...."In the model airplane world, this is no different from Armstrong landing on the moon," says Carl Layden, an official observer of the history-making flight. "It's a feat of engineering 99 percent of modelers would have thought impossible."......

Amazing! Thank you.

47 posted on 11/26/2012 2:23:06 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

That is a super cool project!


48 posted on 11/26/2012 2:24:37 PM PST by SWAMPSNIPER (The Second Amendment,a Matter of Fact,Not a Matter of Opinion)
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To: married21
....I’m going to show the kids on our LEGO robotics team......

Good luck with your team!

49 posted on 11/26/2012 2:29:27 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: beebuster2000; All

http://youtu.be/6KEIq76JE7o


50 posted on 11/26/2012 2:35:33 PM PST by SWAMPSNIPER (The Second Amendment,a Matter of Fact,Not a Matter of Opinion)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Incredible videos!


51 posted on 11/26/2012 3:40:50 PM PST by rightly_dividing (Left behind; 4 Americans in Libya)
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