Meet the Proteus, a new watercraft invented by Ugo Conti, of El Cerrito, Calif.
This spider-like contraption uses inflatable hulls to sit only about a foot deep in the water, and its relatively light weight, long range (5,000 miles) and stability may be used for ocean research, search and rescue, and military applications. (See Mercury News story here).
Three Silicon Valley entrepreneurs invested, including Network Appliances co-founder Dave Hitz, Ezio Valdevit, a fellow at Brocade Communications and Pierluigi Zappacosta, co-founder of Logitech,
Click on the image above to see a video of it in action on the San Francisco Bay. You’ll also hear Conti struggling with the question of what exactly this will be used for. Hmmm.
(Image credit:Gary Reyes/Mercury News)
Tags: people:Dave-Hitz, people:Ezio-Valdevit, people:Pierluigi-Zappacosta, people:Ugo-Conti, proteus3 Comments
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Don Bianco said:
FYI, this was developed in Autodesk Inventor.
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Liz Gannes said:
Whoa, this was floating outside our office (at Pier 38) all day yesterday, and was the subject of much speculation. When it finally took off we all ran to the window to see how it was propelled. Thanks for the link!
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Yuri Ammosov said:
Seems like yet another extension of a millenia-old concept. If original at all.
