The marine environment is extremely harsh for things like electronics, and with us building a smart home that will float in the ocean, corrosion is one of our biggest enemies. We need our homes to stand the test of time so one of our biggest ongoing priorities is to find ways to protect the electronics in the Pods so that they will last for years to come.
The marine is so harsh because the water, salt, and humidity create a perfect storm to encourage corrosion which is one of the worst things for electronics. We have to find ways to prevent and limit corrosion in every aspect of the Pods. We are using marine-grade connectors for our ethernet connections. These connectors are designed to be used in a marine environment and they are rated to IP66.
Another thing that we are doing is using a gel-filled CAT6 ethernet cable. CAT6 is a cable that is made up of four twisted pairs of small wires that are contained within a single insulation coating. Usually, you just have the wires inside the cable but with the gel-filled cable, it is filled with gel. The main benefit of this is that if any water, moisture, or humidity gets into the cable somehow, it won’t be able to travel through the cable because of the gel. Containing the moisture is very important so that it doesn’t spread.
Another benefit of this cable is the insulation coating is made of PVC that is water and sun-resistant. It is basically a much beefier layer of protection than normal CAT6 and will give us much more durability over the long run. This will help to combat cracking and breaking from the exposure to salty air that regular CAT6 cables might experience.
We are constantly looking for ways to combat corrosion with our electronics so we hope to reach the point where the electronics in the Pods will last as long as electronics in normal homes on land. And as we continue to improve and innovate, maybe our electronics will last even longer than what we find on land. Time will tell but we are taking every measure that we can to ensure years of corrosion-free Pod homes.
