0:21 → 0:25
SpeakerSo this video was taken at Aquarius Undersea Laboratory,
0:25 → 0:27
Speaker4 miles off the coast of Key Largo,
0:27 → 0:29
Speakerabout 60 feet below the surface.
0:30 → 0:33
SpeakerNASA uses this extreme environment to train astronauts and aquanauts,
0:34 → 0:36
Speakerand last year they invited us along for the ride.
0:37 → 0:40
SpeakerAll the footage was taken from our open ROV,
0:40 → 0:42
Speakerwhich is a robot that we built in our garage.
0:45 → 0:48
SpeakerSo ROV stands for Remote Operated Vehicle,
0:48 → 0:55
Speakerwhich in our case means our little robot sends live video across that ultra thin tether back to the computer topside.
0:56 → 1:01
SpeakerIt's open source, meaning we publish and share all of our design files and all of our code online,
1:02 → 1:06
Speakerallowing anyone to modify or improve or change the design.
1:06 → 1:11
SpeakerIt's built with mostly off the shelf parts and costs about 1000 times cheaper than the Rovs.
1:11 → 1:14
SpeakerJames Cameron used to explore the Titanic.
1:16 → 1:18
SpeakerSo Rovs aren't new.
1:18 → 1:23
SpeakerThey've been around for decades. Scientists use Rovs to explore the oceans.
1:23 → 1:27
SpeakerOil and gas companies use them for exploration and construction.
1:27 → 1:29
SpeakerWhat we've built isn't unique,
1:30 → 1:32
Speakerit's how we built it that's really unique.
1:33 → 1:36
SpeakerSo I want to give you a quick story of how it get started.
1:36 → 1:42
SpeakerSo a few years ago, my friend Eric and I decided we wanted to explore this underwater cave in the foothills of the Sierras.
1:42 → 1:45
SpeakerWe'd heard this story about lost gold from a gold rush era robbery,
1:45 → 1:50
Speakerand we wanted to go up there. Unfortunately, we didn't have any money and we didn't have any tools to do it.
1:50 → 1:53
SpeakerSo Eric had an initial design idea for a robot,
1:53 → 1:56
Speakerbut we didn't have all the parts figured out.
1:56 → 1:58
SpeakerSo we did what anybody would do in our situation.
1:58 → 2:01
SpeakerWe asked the Internet for help. More specifically,
2:01 → 2:04
Speakerwe created this website, Open rov.com,
2:04 → 2:06
Speakerand shared our intentions and our plans.
2:07 → 2:10
SpeakerFor the first few months it was just Eric and I talking back to each other on the forums,
2:11 → 2:17
Speakerbut pretty soon we started to get feedback from makers and hobbyists and then actually professional ocean engineers who,
2:17 → 2:19
Speakeryou know, had some suggestions for what we should do.
2:20 → 2:22
SpeakerWe kept working on it, we learned a lot,
2:22 → 2:25
Speakerwe kept prototyping, and eventually we decided we wanted to go to The Cave.
2:25 → 2:28
SpeakerWe were ready. So about that time,
2:28 → 2:32
Speakerour little expedition became quite a story and it got picked up in the New York Times.
2:32 → 2:37
SpeakerAnd we were pretty much just overwhelmed with interest from people who wanted a kit that they could build this open ROV themselves.
2:38 → 2:41
SpeakerSo we decided to put the project on Kickstarter.
2:42 → 2:47
SpeakerAnd when we did, we raised our funding goal in about two hours and all of a sudden had this money to make these kits.
2:48 → 2:50
SpeakerBut then we had to learn how to make them.
2:50 → 2:52
SpeakerI mean, we had to learn small batch manufacturing,
2:52 → 2:58
Speakerso we quickly learned that our garage was not big enough to hold our growing operation,
2:58 → 3:00
Speakerbut we were able to do it. We got all the kits made,
3:00 → 3:03
Speakerthanks a lot to Tech Shop, which was a big help to us.
3:03 → 3:08
SpeakerAnd we shipped these kits all over the world just before Christmas of last year.
3:08 → 3:13
SpeakerSo it was just a few months ago, but we're already starting to get video and photos back from all over the world,
3:13 → 3:15
Speakerincluding this shot from under the ice in Antarctica.
3:16 → 3:20
SpeakerWe've also learned that Penguins love robots,
3:22 → 3:25
Speakerso we're still publishing all the designs online,
3:25 → 3:27
Speakerencouraging anyone to build these themselves.
3:27 → 3:29
SpeakerThat's the only way that we could have done this.
3:29 → 3:36
SpeakerIt's by being open source. We've created this distributed R&D network and we're moving faster than any venture backed counterpart.
3:37 → 3:39
SpeakerBut the actual robot is really only half the story.
3:40 → 3:47
SpeakerThe real potential, the long term potential is with this community of DIY ocean explorers that are forming all over the globe,
3:48 → 3:52
Speakerwhat can we discover when there's thousands of these devices roaming the seas?
3:52 → 3:52
SpeakerSo
3:53 → 3:55
Speakeryou're probably all wondering, The Cave,
3:56 → 3:56
Speakerdid you find the gold?
3:57 → 4:02
SpeakerWell, we didn't find any gold, but we decided that what we found was much more valuable.
4:02 → 4:06
SpeakerIt was this glimpse into a potential future for ocean exploration.
4:06 → 4:09
SpeakerIt's something that's not limited to the James Cameron's of the world,
4:09 → 4:11
Speakerbut something that we're all participating in.
4:12 → 4:14
SpeakerIt's an underwater world. We're all exploring together.
4:16 → 4:16
SpeakerThank you.