Wireless iBubble Underwater Drone Will Revolutionize the Scuba Diving Experience

[Steve_C]

Storker: we are in complete agreement then.

 

[Steve_C]

I was just pointing out a possible use for an enhanced version of the drone. I was not interested in the pictures it took. I was suggesting a substantial upgrade of its computing power to include pattern identification and some related AI capabilities. It would not buzz around me. I would say go find sea horse. It would go off and hunt. If it found what it thought might be one it would come back and show me a picture. If what it found looked interesting it could lead me to the site so I can see for myself. In other words just like an electronic buddy. This sort of capbablity was the only use I could see for this toy and is WAY beyond what they were actually proposing and even if developed I would not cough up the big bucks to buy one.

 

[Nicolas / iBubble]

Hi,
I am a member of the iBubble team. Thanks for talking about our project. There are a lot of concerns here, I think I will try to answer to one the message I've read. If you have any other questions, I'll try to answer as honestly as possible.

There are some big differences between this and the Triton scam:
1. It isn't claiming to do anything that is proveably impossible, breaking multiple laws of physics on the way - in fact everything they are claiming to be able to do sounds fairly reasonable, and much of what they are pitching is already commonplace, they are just packaging it nicely. (In contrast to Triton's laughably far-fetched fantasy bull****.)

Thanks. They are a few technical hurdles though, but as you said, nothing breaking the laws of physics.

2. There are clear and quite believable videos of working prototypes shown. (In contrast to Triton's clumsy fakery.)

The working prototype is... working. It is ugly, it does not realize all the features we would like to onboard on the final product, yet it proves that the acoustic part of the positioning technology works. We developed it with experts from the underwater industry here in France, using previous works they've done (for exemple for the french army's combat divers). This prototype has also been filmed by a crew of the Canadian Discovery Chanel - it should be available within a few days - if it can reassure you.

3. They are asking what seems at first glance to be a realistic price. (In contrast to Triton's pitch of at least four Nobel-prize-winning breakthroughs all yours for $300 in four colours.)
4. They appear to have people with actual relevant engineering and diving experience on the team. (In contrast to Triton's team of graphic designer, salesman and marketing dude.)

To answer another question, we have some expertise in cost breakdown of goods. The price is a bottom up of all cost, bill of material, transformation cost, customs, shipment, amortization of R&D and other expenses, taxes, etc. We tried to achieve a price point that would be acceptable - I know it is not cheap, but there is technology inside, that cost a lot.
As mentioned on our Indiegogo project page, we are experienced professionals, and we are working hard to make iBubble a reality. Speaking for myself, I am an engineer in Computer Sciences, with 14 years of experience. 4 people are working on the technical side of the project as we speak (plus all the subcontractors), and the idea is to extend that team thanks to the money raised on the crowdfunding campaign.

5. Some big names in the underwater world are supporting them, and they aren't going to want to be associated with a debacle. (In contrast to Triton where anyone who knows anything are calling them out as scammers.)

I couldn't say better.

There are a few cautions:
1. Flexible funding, means they get the money even if they don't hit target (and no conrtact to actually deliver anything either way).
2. Looks like a pretty aggressive delivery schedule.
3. They still have some pretty hard technical nuts still to crack, such as obstacle avoidance. (This doesn't break any laws of physics, but is a hard enough technical challenge above water, let alone beneath it.)
4. There are a bunch of practicality questions - like as above how it would work in currents? Failure modes? Would it only be useable in ideal pool-like conditions? etc.
5. It's on Indiegogo, who are not exactly covering themselves with glory as far as supporting dodgy projects goes at the moment.

1. We have chosen Flexible campaign, because it is the only way to have both Paypal and credit card payment available on Indiegogo: How much does Indiegogo cost? Fees & Pricing
2. The schedule is aggressive, I do agree on that. It works on the paper, but we know we could face unexpected hurdles on the path. On the other hand, the team has already worked on an aerial drone called Hexo+, which delivered (quite) on time.
3. Obstacle avoidance: we are working on it. As soon as a prototype is ready with this functionality, we'll show it.
4. iBubble will be able to operate in mild currents (3 knots). Maybe we'll make another version for stronger currents in the future, but we had to make trade-offs for the first release.
Failure modes are explained in the FAQ of our Indiegogo page.
For sure, we won't release a product that only works in pool conditions! But again, there are trade-offs made, so it won't work so well in extreme conditions. We won't promise anything we know we can't achieve.

To sum up, all I want you to know is that we are not scammers. We are working very hard on that project. I know everybody won't be willing to buy, no worries about that, but please, give us a chance to prove we can reach our goal.