Dear [Seaswarm Representative]
 It
was a pleasure to speak with you earlier today about MIT's
Seaswarm concept.
In
regard to some background on myself, my author archive at: http://tinyurl.com/5r3xqh
at my flagship web site www.americafirstbooks.com
lists my 2005 ebook titled "I,
Robot Entrepreneur" and some articles
that I wrote about robotics and the mining industry. I provide
links to these works in Appendix A
below.
My
section titled "Enhancing
the Problem Solving, Testing, and Analysis Process"
in my BP-Gulf Catastrophe "intelligence summary" web
page at http://tinyurl.com/39lrrb8
devotes considerable space to various mobile robotic approaches
that can help diagnose, contain, and even clean up the BP-Gulf
Catastrophe.
As
we discussed, one important issue is the cost of producing the
nanofibers described at: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/oil-paper-0530.html.
The following extract is encouraging:
...Jing
Kong, an assistant professor of electrical engineering in
the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
and one of Stellacci's colleagues on the work ...noted that
it could also be inexpensive to produce because the nanowires
of which it is composed can be fabricated in larger quantities
than other nanomaterials.
Another
issue is the extent to which the fibers could be used for deep
underwater clean-up. As one example, robot subs could transport
nanofiber into deep water areas, and then through some process
that involves heating or squeezing out hydrocarbons from the
nanofiber into a collection area in order to make the nanofiber
endlessly reusable, the hydrocarbons could then be transferred
from the collection area via a pipeline extending from along
the ocean floor to an inland oil processing center. This would
probably be vastly more efficient than simply running a pipeline
out to sea, in which case it would be necessary to pump seawater
from the deep ocean back to the inland processing center, where
hydrocarbons would then be separated from the seawater.
As
an alternative to submarine mobility, it may also be possible
to place large porous nets consisting of nanofiber in the path
of ocean currents, so that as the currents sweep through the
nets, the hydrocarbons accumulate in the netting, and then robot
submarines might continually collect the hydrocarbons off the
nets and deposit them in a collection area connected to a pipeline
These nets might actually float at various depths like underwater
sails and drift about the Gulf with the currents. The collection
areas might be connected to long flexible pipes that transport
liquefied hydrocarbons to surface vessels.
You
can find professional
background on myself at: http://tinyurl.com/6fymde.
At this point I am interested in the business development challenges
involved with manufacturing and developing the nanofiber. Certainly
one key question is whether or not use of the nanofibers to
extract hydrocarbons can become a profitable venture.
It
appreciate your time. It was a pleasure to share ideas with
you, and I look forward to staying in touch.
Best
regards,
Bill
Fox
Freelance
journalist,
Publisher,
America First Books, www.americafirstbooks.com
President,
America First Institute
PO
Box 137
Sarver,
PA 16055
Phone:
832-426-2441
APPENDIX A:
I,
Robot Entrepreneur .
About
an industry virtually guaranteed to become a Next New Thing.
Originally
posted Feb 2005, DARPA race update 9 Oct 2005.
 Part
1:..
Futuristic Glimpse/Expected
Growth Trend
Part
2:.. An
Industry at an Inflection Point?
Part
3:..
Modular Frontiers
Part
4: . Where
and How Do We Make Money?
Part
5 .
..Robo
Political Economy
Part
6
.
..Robo
Supremacism, Integration, or Something Else?
"Mining
and Robotics: An Introduction" dated Dec 10, 2004.
Background article for the presentation made at the Northwest
Mining Association's 110th Annual Meeting and Exposition in
Spokane, Washington.
"Mining
and Robotics: A Next New Thing Joins the Commodities Bull Market"
(PowerPoint
file). Presentation made December 10,
2004 during the New Technologies in Exploration & Operations
Technical Session of the Northwest Mining Association Annual
Meeting and Exposition.
Short URL for an online version of this letter: http://tinyurl.com/4fbvjry
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