FAQ

I first had the idea for this project in 2018-2019 when I learned about the SeaCharger project. I had all sorts of ideas for ways to improve the design of the SeaCharger. I also realized that there was a huge range of applications for a small autonomous vessel including climate research, environment protection, and even marine law enforcement. That is when I started working on OSAB.

We will ensure that all of our missions stay well within international waters. When launching and landing the vessels we will be sure to select beaches where it is safe and legal to do so. For missions in rivers, lakes, bays, and other bodies of water we will do extensive research and contact local law enforcement before launching our vessels.

Our vessels will be thoroughly tested and we will have many layers of redundancy built into its systems. Even in the event of a catastrophic failure like a motor failure, we can instruct it to reserve power and periodically transmit its location like a beacon so we can find a way to retrieve the vessel at sea or once it drifts to shore. If we lose communication with the boat it will continue to follow the mission plan and we will retrieve it at the end of the mission. Worst case, if it is lost at sea, we will have to build a new one.

During missions located in rivers or lakes, for example, this is even less of an issue because we are likely to be in close proximity to the vessel and can retrieve it if needed.

Although movies and the media might portray it differently, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is mostly tiny particles of plastic, or microplastics, suspended in the water. Although it may be an environmental disaster, there is nothing that our vessels need to be worried about.

There is not an easy way to implement a ship avoidance system so we will rely on the fact that the ocean is very big. Some things we can do though are monitor the location of vessels (there are various websites that allow you to do this) and we will alter course to avoid them and we can also plan missions ahead of time that avoid large shipping paths.

Yes. We have decided on using a rockblock satellite modem. We will be able to receive information from the boat like battery voltage, heading, and GPS position. We will also be able to tell it to change its mission or tell it to turn around and come home if something goes wrong.