Close
0%
0%

2015HackadayPrize :icebergs to Africa:freshwater

Countries that don't have fresh water could have a source of fresh water that's much less polluted then their rivers. #2015HackadayPrize

Similar projects worth following
Many thought about towing icebergs to Africa before, but why use boats to do this when the iceberg itself could be transformed into a huge sailboat ? With some simple electronics and a GPS and some sails, the iceberg could go where it's needed all by itself.

This has many useful purposes, like of course melting fresh water for some countries, but it could even help to cool some areas of the ocean to reduce hurricane power in Florida for instance. It could provide ice for locations where electricity isn't available.

I have all the skills ( electronics, programming,... ) to build a prototype but I am open to other team members that want to get this project moving and can bring useful skills.

Enjoy this project?

Share

Discussions

haydn jones wrote 03/31/2015 at 16:00 point

Good luck with your project. I will be interested in how you approach auto helm.

  Are you sure? yes | no

Jonathan Corriveau wrote 04/01/2015 at 16:09 point

( sorry english is not my native language )

The main problem I will have is not what people would initially think.  There is a major difference between a boat and an iceberg.  As you know, an iceberg is 90 % under water so it would take lots of wind to move it, especially with the ocean currents.  However (good for me), the ocean currents are not simply linear currents, there are variations ( depending on depth and sometimes there are many circular currents instead of one straight line) and it is possible to use these currents to move in any direction.

  Since the iceberg is 90% under water and water current would be nearly impossible to fight using wind only, the plan is to have some "underwater sail" to move it where I want.  I will also need do detect the shape of the iceberg underwater and to rotate it.   One of the problems I will encounter is when the iceberg flips over and for this I will probably have to look at the shape of the iceberg to choose one that is less likely to flip in the near future.  I haven't explained everything in here yet, just created the project yesterday and I'm much more interested in creating prototypes then documenting everything :)   I'll document of course but I may spend less time then others on this part of the project.

  Are you sure? yes | no

Similar Projects

Does this project spark your interest?

Become a member to follow this project and never miss any updates