Never mind the final Super Bowl score (and the unfortunate headlines), did you appreciate those slick digital field overlays like the yellow 1st & ten line? Frankly I'm still impressed with this technology even though it's not magic. HowStuffWorks explains pretty well the sensors, geometry, and video processing required to make that virtual line look like it's painted on the field. All it takes is precise knowledge of where the camera and line markers are in a 3D model of the stadium, plus the use of the turf color as a reverse mask so that the players -- who must never wear the same shade of green -- don't get overlaid. But once you understand that, the new LiveLine info inserted into America's Cup video seems practically impossible...
Eventually Panbo's new Classifieds section will look more like the other sections, but it's already been tested a fair bit and we're declaring today the official opening of the public beta (Google style). Please check it out! It may be a little rough around the edges -- don't hesitate with constructive criticism -- but I'm hopeful that it will grow into something useful to everyone involved with marine electronics. Individuals and businesses can easily place ads there and right now they're all FREE...
When I first met Don Hyde, founder of Vessel Vanguard, and his business development guy Gordon Ramseier at IBEX, I may have been a little hard on them. That's because a similar plan to put all of a boat's system information into the cloud had gotten me excited last summer, but then seemed to stall. I'd realized that doing this right meant arduously creating a huge yet flexible database of specs, manuals, parts lists, bulletins, maintenance recommendations etc. for thousands of different bilge pumps, AC units, marine toilets, etc. etc. So I came at Don and Gordon with something like "Show me your database!" and, by golly, they did...
It's still in public Beta, but Memory-Map has an Android version of its charting app. I've tested it with both my Verizon Incredible phone and also with the 7-inch Galaxy Tab seen above, thanks to a loan from Memory-Map developer Richard Stephens, who I profiled way back in 2005. Even then Stephens was writing good PC and PDA charting software, and the experience shows...
The photo above is meant to compliment the one I took when first testing the DeLorme inReach satellite communicator. It shows how Briartek's CerberLink is thinner in the depth dimension and also how it uses a USB-chargeable 2000mAh Lithium Polymer battery instead of a two AA Lithiums. And that's important. In fact it's pretty amazing how different the CerberLink and inReach are even though they're both based on the same Iridium 9602 SBD (small-burst data) modem and both aim to revolutionize two-way messaging, tracking, and safety beyond cellular coverage...
I spent some time recently looking through the wonderful photography AC34 is making available to the media (the public can browse large thumbnails). Most of the images were taken by the superb shooter Gilles Martin-Raget, and I thank him for taking some that illustrate my story obessions with the underlying technology and the support fleet. Like the one above which frames the intense racing with the AC45's space-age boomkin. As described in November that gray disk most aft is a NovAtel high-precision GPS which works along with inertial motion sensors and a high speed wireless data network so that the entire AC system knows exactly where this boat is...
I'm surprised because I thought Raymarine was holding off a slew of new products for the Miami show in mid-February, but today we learned that Ray's UK site has put up details on the e9 and e12 big brothers of the e7 launched last summer, as well as new c9 and c12 MFDs that are similar to the e Series but without the touch control. Which is a lot, but not all...
The wrecking of the Costa Concordia is of course a dreadful and criminally unnecessary disaster. It's hard to find anything positive about what happened, unless perhaps you're another captain whose life became defined by a single major screw up, like, say, Joe Hazelwood. The Monitor did a good job delineating Capt. Francesco Schettino's Top 4 'deceptions' today and that was before Schettino made the claim that he abandoned ship because he tripped and fell into a lifeboat! I suspect that it will be a long time before anyone beats Schettino in the disgraced ship captain department...
Want more LED light at less cost to illuminate your deck or the water beyond? Rigid Industries may be new to the marine industry but the company claims patented optic systems that have already made it "the pioneer of forward projecting high intensity LED light bars" for uses like long-distance racing in souped-up dune buggies (on a course that may be booby-trapped). You can glimpse the unusual reflectors (for LED fixtures) in this photo from IBEX and I can tell you that even those small and relatively inexpensive "four bulb" cubes closest to the camera are blindingly bright...
Almost two months later and I'm still excited about what I saw of America's Cup 34 in San Diego. If I had a megayacht I might well dispatch it to Naples or Venice for the spring World Series events, and I'll certainly be tuning in to AC's YouTube channel. But I'm convinced that understanding the incredible technology behind the scenes helps you appreciate how pure the racing is, and I've got several more entries to write on the subject, as well as an April Yachting feature in the works. Today we're going to peek at what goes on aboard the AC 34 committee boat, a sturdy power cat named Regardless...
