back to article Long-distance robot makes landfall in Oz

The first of four autonomous ocean-spanning robots with software brewed by Java creator James Gosling has arrived in Australia intact after more than 365 days at sea. Last March, the robots entered the Guinness Book of Records for the longest autonomous seafaring journey, when they passed the 5,150 km-mark on their journey. In …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    This is an amazing step forward for those in the smuggling trade.

  2. Steven Roper

    irritatingly anthropomorphised... as “he”

    I suspect, Richard, that had the company gynopomorphised (is that a cromulent word?) the robot as "she", that you might not have found it as "irritating". After all, is "she" not the pronoun that has been used for seagoing vessels since time immemorial?

    1. Veldan
      Joke

      Re: irritatingly anthropomorphised... as “he”

      Surely it's a "he" because it is a submersible, which historically have been long, hard and full of seamen. (In this case electronic)

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Headmaster

      Re: irritatingly anthropomorphised... as “he”

      I think there's a clue in the name Papa Mau.

      1. Mayday
        Stop

        Re: irritatingly anthropomorphised... as “he”

        You will find that HM Ships King George V, Prince of Wales, Duke of York et all are ALWAYS described as "she".

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    "with software brewed by Java creator James Gosling"

    Given Java's rather leaky reputation I guess just staying afloat for a year is quite an achievement.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    Another boat arrival

    Has it been transferred to Villawood yet?

    1. Martin Budden Silver badge
      Coat

      Re: Another boat arrival

      It's refusing to eat anything.

  5. DanceMan
    Coat

    Papa ooh mau mau

    Mine's the one with the 45 single in the pocket.

    1. Oddb0d
      Linux

      Re: Papa ooh mau mau

      Word.

  6. mark 63 Silver badge
    Happy

    I would like to know a bit more about his "Wave propulsion" , all the rest of it seemss a bit everyday I'm sure even I could write a java program to follow a gps

    But WTF is wave propulsion? I am intrigued

    (yes, i heard of surfing)

    1. Peter H. Coffin

      Basically, you have a floaty bit, and a sunken bit attached by some something solid or at least inelastic. The floaty bit bobs on waves bigger than it is long. So it rides up and down. The sunken bit isn't affected much by the wave, but since it's attached, it gets dragged up and down through the water. If you attach some flappy planes or wings to the sunken bit, arranged so that they can swivel some through horizontal on an offset pivot, that up-and-down gets vectored into a small amount of thrust in the direction that the pivot is offset, which shoves the sunken bit forward, dragging the floaty bit along with it. It's not much thrust, each wave, but it's essentially free, and if you coat the floaty bit with enough solar cells (and/or attach generation equipment to your flappy planes), you make a robot boat out of it that will go where the robot brain says to, eventually,

      1. SirDigalot
        Coat

        now why can't

        The BBC explain stuff like that it makes it so much more easy to comprehend.

        <------- the one with the flappy bits....

  7. Peter H. Coffin

    Oh no!

    Java-coded robot at sea for over a year without an update! How are they EVER going to get that ask.com toolbar installed??

  8. Pet Peeve
    Thumb Up

    You, Sir, should host a science program called "tricky bits".

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