Hasta La Gadget!

With all this talk about unmanned drones, it was only a matter of time before a couple of interesting projects would surface. Check out FishPi, an unmanned water vessel which will run a cheap Raspberry Pi computer to try and cross the Atlantic Ocean. Will it succeed?

Its creator, Greg Holloway thinks that FishPi will succeed. It’s currently in the proof-of-concept phase. The autonomous, slightly robotic, drone will also feature a 130 W solar panel that will power it. GPS and a servo controller board helps it guide through squalls. There’s a compass, motor and camera, which can capture video as well.

The prototype version measures 20″ in length, and wards off the elements thanks to a plastic sandwich container. I think that the final build will need to be a bit more refined than that, but if they ultimately set a whole bunch of these off on an Atlantic journey, then odds are that one of them might just make it.

[via Ubergizmo]

The Raspberry Pi is a tasty little Linux computing device but it’s so far been rather hard to buy. I’ve wanted to order one since it officially started to ship in April. However, due to the limited quantities, retailers sold out nearly immediately.

Enter Allied Electronics. The Texas-based electronic distributor is now taking orders for the Raspberry Pi at the list price of $35 each with the only caveat being shipping is not for 10-12 weeks. But I’ll take it!

The Raspberry Pi is a pretty exciting computing devices. The tiny PCB is packed to the gills with respectable hardware: a Broadcom BCN2835 SoC (700MHz ARM CPU), 256MB RAM, Ethernet, two USB ports, and HDMI. Plus, the Linux core allows for all sorts of general coding fun. It’s hard to find a more capable device for $35 — and now you can finally order one.

Raspberry Pi‘s journey to reach owners has been a lengthy one, but Greg Holloway is preparing to send his board on a longer voyage — one across the Atlantic. Nestled inside a tupperware tub, the RaspberryPi is the brains of FishPi, an autonomous vessel — guided by GPS and a compass — that measures 20 inches from bow to stern. Currently in proof-of-concept form, the craft uses a 40 mm rotating propeller and draws juice from batteries powered by a 130 watt solar panel. Producing kits for students, enthusiasts and professionals is the goal of the project, but testing and development are still on the docket. While the Linux-laden launch isn’t ready for the high seas quite yet, you can sail to the source for the technical breakdown or check it out at the Nottingham Hackspace Raspberry Jam next month.

FishPi sets course for the open sea, captained by a Raspberry Pi originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jun 2012 03:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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