SurfSonar
Hardware
surfboard sonar sensor
SHOW HN2021
332points
91comments
#102of 2,533 in 2021
Top 5%of 2021 by points
How HN took it
CuriousMostly questions and neutral comments
11 positive, 23 neutral or asking, 2 mixed, 8 critical, out of 44 comments about the project. Thread score +0.08.
Idea: 6 for, 3 againstPerformance: 2 for, 1 againstDesign: 0 for, 2 againstPricing: 0 for, 2 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Technically impressive and fun project
From 4 comments
This is very impressive. I have no expertise here, but I was wondering if the low confidence in surf is due to bubbles? (I took a quick look at the transducer and software docs,…
mannykannot on HNThis is a really cool project! Thanks for sharing.
BitAstronaut on HNI love this so much.
superamit on HNBrilliant work, well done.
sova on HN
Useful idea for surfers
From 2 comments
As a surfer at crowded breaks, I've often thought it would be cool to build a little drone submarine early warning system - it would navigate itself out a half mile or so…
QuadrupleA on HNSuper cool project! At first I was thinking how hard it must to get value from the confidence reading in real-time. But I was imagining looking at readings while riding a wave.…
consumer451 on HN
Objections
Bubbles and whitewater make depth readings unreliable
From 2 comments
This is very impressive. I have no expertise here, but I was wondering if the low confidence in surf is due to bubbles? (I took a quick look at the transducer and software docs,…
mannykannot on HNI have some expertise here (have used sonar under breaking waves) and I'd say you're spot on. Bubbles act like acoustic black holes, they absorb sound like crazy. Whether you're…
orforforof on HN
Less useful than reading the water yourself
From 1 comment
This is technically very cool, but (as someone who surfs himself)for the purposes of surfing it strikes me as pretty useless. If you spend enough time surfing you learn how to…
lotophage on HN
Transducer mounting through fiberglass may degrade performance
From 1 comment
Look up acoustic impedance matching. By analogy, your ultrasound technician needs to smear ky jelly (or similar) on your skin to ensure a good connection between the transducer…
orforforof on HN
Requests
Add a GPS and mapping or visualization
From 1 comment
If you're interested, a research group at UC Santa Barbara put together an open source web application [1] prototype specifically for doing visualization and mapping of Ping…
qchris on HN
Make the screen readable from the surfer's position
From 1 comment
Some UX/UI design comment: The screen is oriented to be read from the side - why not from where the user is?
peterfield on HN
Detect sharks or large animals
From 2 comments
Awesome idea man. As an avid water sports guy and an avid shark phobia guy, could you use sonar to detect large moving objects at distance?
smattiso on HNI'd want one to warn me if there is a shark nearby. =)
latchkey on HN
Questions
Can sonar be used to detect sharks
From 2 comments
Do sharks (or other sea predators) respond to sonar? Is this more likely to make you prey or would it actually help with annoying them away?
dumdumdumdum on HNAwesome idea man. As an avid water sports guy and an avid shark phobia guy, could you use sonar to detect large moving objects at distance?
smattiso on HN
Could side-scan sonar be used
From 1 comment
Does this "Ping Sonar" thing do side scans? I actually don't really understand the mechanics/mathematics of sidescanning, but it produces some compelling images. I'm not sure if…
geokon on HN
Alternatives named
Commercial fish finders
From 2 comments
You can get little transducers from Garmin/Raymarine that will render a 3D view on your chart-plotter where you can pick out individual fish swimming beneath you in real-time.
Stevvo on HNYeah actually I considered just using a commercial "fish finder" which is common on boats. Probably could have made that work, but generally their display units aren't waterproof…
foobarbecue on HN
Side-scan sonar systems
From 2 comments
There are some sweet side scan sonar systems that send out ~ 200khz chirps to give you a pretty good picture of the sea floor. It might make for a nice map of the bottom, but I…
state_less on HNThey do sell a scanning one, but it's $2k instead of $300, and big enough to be a little more annoying to get into the surfboard. It'd be fun to have though!
foobarbecue on HN