Diver & Tobias
Diver Diver
Tobias Tobias
Diver Diver
Hey Tobias, have you ever thought about how we could use a swarm of tiny autonomous drones to map a deep‑sea vent faster than any single sub? I’m curious how you’d calculate the risk and the data strategy for something like that.
Tobias Tobias
That’s a wild idea, and the math is actually fun. First, break it into three parts: coverage, redundancy, and data bandwidth. For coverage, you can use a grid‑search algorithm – each drone gets a hexagon of, say, 200 meters side, so you need roughly 50 drones to hit a 10‑km area. Redundancy is the safety net: because pressure and bio‑fouling kill about 10 % a day, double up so every spot is covered by two drones. That gives you a 90 % confidence that you’ll get a full map before any one dies. For risk, calculate the probability of loss versus the cost per drone. If each unit is $200k, a 10 % chance of losing 10 units is a $200k hit, which is tolerable if the mission pays out in data value. Add a contingency factor – say a 5 % buffer for unforeseen failures. Bandwidth is the last puzzle. Each drone streams 10 Mbps of sensor data. For 50 drones, that’s 500 Mbps, which is a lot for a submarine link. You can compress the data on the fly with a lossless algorithm, or better, use edge‑processing: let the drones do the heavy lifting and only send processed summaries back – maybe 1 Mbps per drone – dropping the load to 50 Mbps, which a modern deep‑sea link can handle. In short: split the area into small squares, double the number for redundancy, accept a 10‑15 % loss risk, and compress or process data on the drone before transmission. That’s the quick playbook.
Diver Diver
That’s a solid playbook – feels like a map of the ocean itself, all those hexes and backups. Love the idea of the drones doing most of the heavy lifting so we only bring the highlights up. Keeps the link clear and the dive safe. Let’s see if we can fit that into a real prototype before the next expedition.
Tobias Tobias
Nice, let’s sketch a quick prototype outline. First, pick a small swarm—maybe 10 drones for a test—each with a 200‑meter coverage radius. Build a simple hex‑grid controller on the ground that assigns each drone a sector, then have them send a summary packet every 30 seconds. We’ll test the compression in a lab sea‑tank to see how much data drops out. Once the loop works, scale up the number and hit the deep‑sea link. You’ll see the math play out in real time and you’ll have a solid demo for the next expedition. Keep me posted on the hardware specs, and I’ll crunch the numbers on the risk side.
Diver Diver
Sounds great, Tobias. I’ll start gathering the specs for the 200‑meter radius units and work on a light‑weight hex‑grid controller that can run on a single laptop. I’ll ping you once I have the first build ready so we can lock in the compression trial in the tank. Looking forward to seeing the numbers come to life.
Tobias Tobias
Sounds solid—just keep the grid logic tight so each drone knows exactly when to hand off data. Once you have the specs, drop me the numbers and we’ll run a quick simulation on the laptop to tweak the compression ratio. Looking forward to the first build; let’s make sure the math keeps the link clear and the drones happy.