F.A.Q.
F.A.Q
Isn’t building a boat that drives itself for no reason a waste of money?
Yes, and it’s totally worth it.
How will you survive on the boat?
Ill be perfectly surviving at home since the boat will not have a human being captaining the ship, everything will be controlled by a little computer system.
LOCARB sounds lame, why didn’t you name it CarbymcCarbface?
Overplayed
How much will LOCARB cost to build?
By my estimates, LOCARB will cost ~$1,500 USD (total final cost of $1911.53 for v1 + ~$700 for v2, oops!)
How come you didn’t just use the Arduino to do everything from navigation and sensor reading, to motor speed control?
Arduinos although limited in memory and speed, perform routine tasks very well. However, I felt that delegating navigation workload to a dedicated autopilot would free up much of the processing power and allow it to handle other critical tasks with less room for errors (such as motor speed control and sat modem communications). My main concern is that the Arduino would lock up and require a restart many times during the voyage. Having to constantly reboot a computer that handles your navigation and communications to fix issues isn’t ideal.
What happens if LOCARB stops sending tracking data?
In the event LOCARB stops sending tracking data, it will mean several things: The sat modem does not have a clear view of the sky (the boat has capsized), the power supply has drained completely, the electronics have failed or locked up, I’ve run out of Iridium SBD credits, or the vessel has sunk.
Where do you want to go with LOCARB?
Once I get everything tested for water hardiness, power usage/generation, and bi-directional communication (in my backyard using a big tub of water), my first test will be to boat around Lake Siskiyou for a day or two to see how things work in a controlled environment. After this test, ill set LOCARB to boat to Hawaii. If successful, I may consider the Microtransat challenge or send the boat to visit my sister in Australia.
Do you think LOCARB will make it to Hawaii?
It did not but LoCARB had spent 107 days out on the ocean, traveled 1327 miles from launch, traversed a total of 1729 miles of ocean (including all the wonky zig zags and backwards motion), braved and survived bad weather with winds up to 24 kts (also made it farther than the solo-kayaker, and solo wing guy), and ended up 1476 miles from Hawaii! What a run for a boat built by a stay at home dad! 🙂
What do your friends and family think about this project?
They think its pretty much an exercise in futility, but they’re happy for me :/
What is the hardest part about designing LOCARB?
I think the most difficult issue facing me right now is getting the code to work exactly as I want it to. Because of the breadth of expertise needed in being able to send and receive data to LOCARB and have it processed and displayed in a user friendly way, I am a little intimidated.
Are you going to put a compartment for cargo on it?
No, if I’ve read everything correctly about the Jones act of 1920, its apparently illegal.
What does your wife do when you talk about LOCARB?
Have you ever seen someones eyes gloss over when they don’t understand you’re talking about? Yea….that.
Do you take sponsors?
Sure, let me know if you are interested and i’m sure we can work something out.
Where/When will LOCARB be launched?
LoCARB was launched several times, with the last and final launch being May 31, 2021.
July 27th 2020 in Half Moon Bay, Ca – first launch
How Long did it take to finish the project?
2 years and 3 months.