Most robots get around with tracks or wheels, but [Dave] had something different in mind. Sufficiently unbothered by the prospect of mixing electronics and water, [Dave] augmented a canoe with twin, paddle-bearing robotic arms to bring to life a concept he had: the RowboBoat. The result? A canoe that can paddle itself with robotic arms, leaving the operator free to take a deep breath, sit back, and concentrate on not capsizing.
There are a couple of things we really like about this build, one of which is the tidiness of the robotic platform that non-destructively attaches to the canoe itself with custom brackets. A combination of aluminum extrusion and custom brackets, [Dave] designed it with the help of 3D scanning the canoe as a design aid. A canoe, after all, has nary a straight edge nor a right angle in sight. Being able to pull a 3D model into CAD helps immensely in such cases; we have also seen this technique used in refitting a van into an off-grid camper.
The other thing we like is the way that [Dave] drives the arms. The two PiPER robotic arms are driven with ROS, the Robot Operating System on a nearby Jetson Orin Nano SBC. The clever part is the way [Dave] observed that padding and steering a canoe has a lot in common with a differential drive, which is akin to how a tank works. And so, for propulsion, ROS simply treats the paddle-bearing arms as though they were wheels in a differential drive. The arms don’t seem to mind a little water, and the rest of the electronics are protected by a pair of firmly-crossed fingers.
The canoe steers by joystick, but being driven by ROS it could be made autonomous with a little more work. [Dave] has his configuration and code for RowboBoat up on GitHub should anyone wish to take a closer look. Watch it in action in the video, embedded below.
I am appalled that this HaD article contains a video. In my day, articles were articles and videos were videos. And those robot arms look totally fake.
“I am appalled that this HaD article contains a video.” That needs to become a meme.
Ha! Spot on!
I’d buy that t-shirt.
When the ghost in the machine awakens this machine will beat the dude to death.
Will be found with a paddle in an uncomfortable place, paddle end first.
What a waste of resources, two robot arms running a position script..
Canoe ruined by deadweight.
No room for beer.
Can’t even tip over once.
Dude doesn’t understand the point of a canoe.
I know, clickbait, point is ‘clicks’.
He drove that Canoe on a tank, he knows what Canoes are for!
Buy a bunch of stuff. Some assembly required. End of story.
That kinda summarizes every DIY project
great photo. clean concept. I like it.
Repent and believe in Jazus!
I agree that this business of “come up with weird useless machine, make youtube video, get money” is getting tiresome to watch.
But maybe it isn’t entirely useless, and we should think of it as the da Vinci sketches of the modern age. Pointless and impractical perhaps, but they still show what is possible, for what price and can either educate or inspire others.
Also with ‘dumb’ ideas like this if you can prove its possible to make and then perhaps refined the idea a bit it can potentially solve a heap of problems with propeller, turbine and even paddle wheels, perhaps hovercraft too – things like weed fouling are not a problem when the paddle on its robot arm has enough degrees of freedom to shake it off.
Probably not practical or remotely affordable now, and not likely to become so for years but it might just suit a niche somewhere, and somebody will have seen the daft idea and actually found it useful – perhaps as a mine clearance hovercraft based platform – off the water enough to likely not trigger the mine and able to actually control its position in a way hovercraft usually are not.
Bwahaha:) Today’s laughing article finally found (after hours of fighting Fanuc in our factory) Idea: fantastic. Operating environment: fantastic. Final design: Sure I like it:)
Bwahaha:) Today’s laughing article finally found (after hours of fighting Fanuc in our factory) Idea: fantastic. Operating environment: fantastic. Final design: Sure I like it:)
What is destroying me is dumbness of HaD Reply system.
Now, would this installation be considered a “motor” for the purposes of vehicular registration?
The RIAA should take this d-bag’s robots away.
Oh yeah
Don’t flip over with that honking power supply feeding power to your setup….
I didn’t recognize the creator at first, but he built a rollercoaster with an industrial robot. This project has very similar issues. I wonder how well a Bluetti will fair when dunked into water. With the PiPER by AgileX Robotics at $4k a piece, he must have been terrified of capsizing as well.
I guess that’s why he sits on the bottom of the canoe rather than on the seat.
Now get them to run a correct fore-aft canoe rowing configuration with a proper J-stroke and I’ll be impressed.
I’m impressed that he went out on his cruise without a backup paddle!
I agree with the comments here, and skipped most of the video. However, I do find the robot arms themselves quite impressive. It’s a bit of a limitation that J4 is so far behind the wrist as this limits the agility of the “hand side” of the robot arm, but this thing seems to be actually available for USD 2500, and it also seems to have a decent amount of force. I’ve seen some robots that could barely keep their working end in the air. 1.5kg is quite decent for such a small arm.
https://global.agilex.ai/products/piper
One of these days I’m going to look for some decent video’s of this robot arm. They claim a 0.1mm repeatability, and I’d like to see more of the internals to make a judgement whether it can get close to that. It sure seems a step up from those jittery hobby servo robot arms.
Seems to me that I have seen paddle powered craft some years back – all mechanical no computer
Also since when does “practical” a requirement for inclusion here?
“Also since when does “practical” a requirement for inclusion here?”
My thought also. Most of my projects are just for the fun of it… Usually have no ‘practical’ use in mind!
the future of water-borne law enforcement: RowboatCop. half man, half boat, all cop.
Finally a use case for those robotic arms!