Microship Design Goals

Obviously, I’ve had quite a while to think about this. On the surface, the Microship project is an outgrowth of the technomadic bicycle adventures that somehow became a career: the cyclic creation and application of tools that allow me to remain productive and connected while traveling freely. With physical location reduced to irrelevancy, it follows that I can roam the planet without regard for deadlines, dwindling bank accounts, or schedules beyond those imposed by the seasons.

There are some non-trivial components to this, many of which were not at all clear when I started wandering on the bike. Over time, the specifications evolved, shaped by reality and changing needs in just about every domain: connectivity, computing power, power generation, maintainability, design flexibility, physical security, multimedia tools, scaling gracefully to accommodate a flotilla of other travelers, and more...

After reviewing the complex history of the project and seeing how easy it is to get blown off course, we should now clarify our thinking by stating, as concisely as possible, the point of all this:

The Microships are intended to serve as physically minimalist escape pods for open-ended adventure along coastal, inland, and protected waterways (not ocean crossings or whitewater). Sleeping on-board must be possible, albeit perhaps spartan, and it is essential that haulout can be accomplished under human power without the need for trailers or other shore-based facilities.

So far, this spec could be met easily by off-the-shelf kayaks or canoes... but there are a few other issues to consider that introduce compounding complications such as the need for deployable landing gear:

We require multiple independent modes of propulsion in the form of pedal drives, steerable solar/electric thrusters, and freestanding sails. A sealed, pressurized control console is needed on each boat to accommodate on-board computers, communication, and data-collection tools. One of the boats needs full-scale digital video editing capability, as well as a suite of on-board cameras including underwater and steerable units. Satellite and HF data communication facilities are essential to maintain our links to the Internet for email and telemetry, not to mention a capable ham radio station, cellular phone, marine VHF, and so on. A full set of navigation tools is required, along with “smart backpacks” to allow peripatetic crew to locate each other or the boats... and a wireless network must be continuously available to allow full graphic remote control and monitoring of Wordplay and Songline even when they’re on the beach and we’re in town. And, of course, the whole system must be exquisitely hackable, exciting, robust, and capable of sustaining not only basic life support but high levels of amusement for a long time to come.