Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Culture

This zippy RC submarine lets you explore beneath the waves

By

OpenROV’s Kickstarter campaign for its new Trident underwater drone is now live, and the early sales are impressive. The campaign has absolutely exploded on Kickstarter, reaching its goal within five minutes of launch. With 44 days still left to go, the consumer-oriented underwater vehicle has raised $370,000, exceeding its original goal of $50,000 by a factor of six. According to OpenROV, the Trident has the versatility of a ROV (remote operated vehicle) and combines it with the efficient operation of an AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle). And with a starting price of $599 for the Kickstarter “Super Early Bird Special”, it’s no surprise the drone is selling like mad.

The Trident isn’t OpenROV’s first drone.The company kickstarted another model, the OpenROV – Open Source Underwater Robot, back in 2012. The original OpenROV drone was sold a kit that contained all the parts necessary to build the underwater vessel. Using their experience and feedback from the enthusiast community, the OpenROV team went to work on Trident. Trident features a hydrodynamic design that is efficient at flying through in the water in long, straight runs, yet maneuverable enough to slide in between underwater rocks and crevices. It’s also smaller than its predecessor with a form factor that allows the drone to fit in a backpack.

Recommended Videos

Related: This underwater drone hunts and kills invasive starfish on the Great Barrier Reef

The Trident is packed to the max with features that make flying in the water fun. The ROV can fly in long, straight lines when surveying an area or perform delicate maneuvers when needed to navigate in tight spaces. The drone also includes LED lights for underwater viewing and a built-in HD camera capable of capturing images or videos that can be used to create a 3D model of the ocean floor. Similar to OpenROV’s earlier drone, the software that powers the Trident is open source, allowing enthusiasts to add new features.

Right now the Trident is selling out quickly, with the $599 and $799 packages no longer available. Interested buyers can still grab the discounted $949 or full price $1,199 bundle that includes the drone, as as well as a neutrally-buoyant tether for sending telemetry data back to the surface and a wireless topside buoy.

This was originally a post from our brother site, Digital Trends.

Kelly Hodgkins
Kelly Hodgkins
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Nicholas Hoult plays a guilty juror in the first trailer for Clint Eastwood’s ‘Juror No. 2’
The movie will hit theaters in November, and could be Eastwood's final film
Nicholas Hoult in Juror No. 2

Clint Eastwood is still making movies. The 94-year-old Hollywood legend has just unveiled the trailer for his latest film, Juror No. 2, which is set to hit theaters in November. The movie stars Nicholas Hoult as a man who is appointed to a jury and slowly begins to realize that he may be responsible for the murder that he's been tasked with reaching a verdict on.

The first trailer lays out that dynamic, and also gives us a sense for some of the weighty moral questions about guilt and responsibility the movie will be tackling. In addition to Hoult, the movie also stars Toni Collette, Zoey Deutch, JK Simmons, and Francesca Eastwood.

Read more
The universe of ‘Reacher’ is expanding with a new spin-off series
The series will follow Maria Sten's character from the original show
Maria Sten in 'Reacher.'

As one of Amazon Prime Video's most popular shows, Reacher is unlikely to be canceled anytime soon, in spite of recent production issues. In fact, Amazon has announced that the universe of Reacher will be expanding, and a fan-favorite is set to get its own spin-off series.

At their Prime Video Presents: Trailblazers event in London, the studio announced that Maria Sten will star in her own spin-off series as Frances Neagley, Reacher's best friend and trusted confidant. The series is created by Nick Santora and Nicholas Wootton, and the announcement also clarified that Sten will still return to her role for Reacher's third season.

Read more
The best shows to binge on Peacock in October
Lots of NBC hits are on Peacock now — here are the best shows to watch
Gabriel Macht wearing a light gray suit

There are definitely too many streaming services. Thanks to Netflix's revolution, every broadcast network and parent company decided that they had to get in on the streaming wars. Peacock TV is NBC Universal's streaming service, and although it may not seem like the most attractive option, there are actually a number of great Peacock movies and shows available on the service that are hard to find anywhere else.
Some of those popular shows are Peacock streaming originals, although there are plenty that initially aired on NBC or elsewhere, and have wound their way to Peacock thanks in part to the complicated nature of TV rights. Regardless of where the best Peacock shows came from originally, though, all the ones on this list are well worth checking out. Looking for more streaming options? We also have your guide to the best shows on Netflix, the best shows on Hulu, and the best shows on Paramount+.

Suits (2011)

Read more