Archive
December 2021
29 articles
EcoPod Test Assembly
Craig is here to give us an update on the test assembly of the EcoPod. In the attached video he walks us through where we are in the process and what we will be doing as we move along. As you can see, we are hard at work here at the factory and making some…
EcoPod Roof Updates
We are at the Ocean Builders Factory here in Panama with another update from Craig about the new EcoPod roof design. We have recently made a plug and three molds so that we can begin making the roof sections.The roof will be made up of a ring of 28 of these sections that go around…
Lighting Challenges
One of the unexpected challenges that we ran into during the development of the SeaPod was the lighting system. We ended up spending a ton of time researching LED lights to determine what the best options would be.LED light strips tend to have some pretty big tradeoffs when it comes to brightness, sharpness, and color…
Greening The Factory
Grant has a new update from the Ocean Builders Factory here in Panama. We are getting closer to going completely off-grid and being able to create 100% of the electricity that we will use.This update comes from the roof of the factory where we are installing some new solar panels that will generate electricity to…
Factory Christmas Party
Ocean Builders had a Christmas Celebration with our factory workers at a local restaurant on Dec 24th. We celebrated a great year of progress in bringing SeaPods once step closer to reality. We also celebrated winning first place in the Radical Innovation Architectural Design Award this week. We also shared our excitement about the coming…
Test Results
About two years ago, we launched a small scale model to act as a proof-of-concept for the idea for the TriPod base model of the SeaPod. The model performed wonderfully and we learned a ton from the experiment. We wanted to see some of the long-term effects that the bases would experience in the seawater…
Smart Bilge Pump Integration Complete
We are back with Omer for a demo of our smart bilge pump system. This system ensures that the water level in the bilge does not rise too far risking instability or even possibly sinking of the SeaPod.We have a differential pressure sensor that allows the system to constantly monitor the water level in the…
Full Smart Shower Demo
Here we have a great demonstration of our full smart shower system from Omer. He walks us through each of the parts that all come together to deliver a convenient and relaxing shower experience. Omer has mocked up an easy-to-see example of how this system will work. Starting with the jet pump and controller. This…
Automatic Water Temperature Adjustment System
The shower in the SeaPod will be controlled either by voice or by a touch screen using our home automation app. The days of fidgeting with shower knobs to get the perfect temperature are over. With our system, you will get the perfect temperature every time.The shower temperature will be set by degrees in the…
Ultrasonic Welding Testing
After we complete the visual inspection of our welds to make sure that everything looks right, we use an ultrasonic testing machine that can give us an internal image of the steel so that we can get a more thorough image of everything.Welding machines basically heat the steel and melt a stick of aluminum or…
Bottom Half of EcoPod is complete
We have a big update from Craig at the Ocean Builders family here in Panama, the first 26 sections that make up the bottom half of the SeaPod are completed and ready for the next step.These 26 fiberglass sections make up the bottom “bowl” of the outer shell of the SeaPod. These sections are the…
Exploring Panama – Pearl Islands
It’s not often Grant takes a day to get out of the factory, but Panana has a great deal to offer outside of the Ocean Builders HQ. While Ocean Builders are working on the Atlantic side of Panama, the Pearl Islands or located on the Pacific side, to the South-West of the country.Grant didn’t miss…
Yoga Mats
We don’t want the SeaPod to be just a home, we want it to be an experience. With so many health benefits of living on the water, we felt that having our own yoga mats available will make it easier and more comfortable to enjoy the ocean breeze while practicing yoga.Whether it be on the…
Seabed Mapping Update
It is said that we have more thorough maps of the Moon and Mars than of our ocean floors here on Earth. While ocean exploration has been going on for centuries, the mapping of the seabeds is still somewhat of a recent idea.Being able to see and have a map of the seafloor is crucial…
New Design Roof Progress Report
We are back at the factory with Grant who has an update on a slight design change to the SeaPod roof. We are working on a design that would give us the option to collect rainwater easier which could be used in the greywater systems for washing dishes or flushing toilets.The idea is to have…
Bilge Pump Integration into the home automation software
Here we have Omer giving us a demonstration of how the bilge pump will integrate with the home automation system that is at the core of the SeaPod. He shows us a preview of what the data that you will be able to see in the app will look like.The home automation app will serve…
Visual Inspection of Welding
We are beginning to ramp up the production of our second and third SeaPod bases. The first base that we built will be used in our show home as an example of what the SeaPod will be, but these next two bases are the start of the actual production of SeaPod homes.We feel much more…
3D Printed Coral
People often refer to the large coral reefs in our oceans as “the rainforests of the ocean” because they are such an instrumental part of the entire ecosystem that we have on Earth. Unfortunately, much like the rainforests on land, the health of corals all around the world is being threatened more and more every…
Making Central Spar #2
We are back at the factory with an update on the construction of our second SeaPod central spar. You can see the team working on applying the fiberglass layers and resin to the structure. What we are working on here is essentially a fiberglass collar or sleeve that will go over the internal steel spar…
Bilge Pump Differential Pressure Sensor for measuring Water Level
The bilge pump is a critical part of any boat or other floating structure. It works by pumping any water that gets into the bottom of the boat or structure back out into the sea. The bilge pump is an integral part of keeping boats above the water since most boats and structures are not…
Underwater Room
As the Seapod project has gone through its different phases of design and development, a lot of ideas have been considered, and an underwater room is one that has recently resurfaced. The Seapod design includes a long steel spar that supports the housing pod. But here at Ocean Builders, waste is not a welcome concept.The…
Aquacycler
In our video, we have Connor, the Business Development Manager here at Ocean Builders, and like the rest of us, he’s really excited to talk about the plan to create an Aquacycler. But what on Earth is an Aquacylcer?Well, if you can’t guess it from the name, an Aquacycler will be an autonomous vessel that…
New Design Walkthrough
Here we have Craig checking in from the factory to show us the true-to-size layout of the SeaPod. We know that it can be confusing and unclear when we only have our rendering photos and square footage to explain the size so Craig is here to help give everyone a sense of the actual layout…
Autonomous Surface Vessel
One of the challenges of a floating home is trash removal. We can’t simply roll the trashcan to the end of the driveway or throw it in a dumpster like we typically do on land. While we will have the aerial drone that can make deliveries between your SeaPod and the shore, the heavy payloads…
SeaPod Steel Frame #2 and #3 in production
It’s been a long journey over the course of this year. Longer than we had anticipated or wanted. But when creating something new and innovative, that is often the case. This project has been a huge undertaking, and there have been plenty of interruptions, from the Covid pandemic to dealing with supply issues to even…
AI Vision
Artificial Intelligence, or AI for short, is part of what makes the SeaPod into a smart home. With most of these processes running on the brain computer, we can bring the SeaPod to life so that many daily tasks can be automated for convenience.While making life more convenient is important, making it safe is of…
New Design Roof Construction
Yesterday we started cutting out the pieces needed for our new roof mold design. This design will be used to make the roof of our Seapod. This Seapod will differ from our flagship design and will be completely round. In the video, we can see the team working hard to create part of the master…
Cutting Steel
While the outer shell of the SeaPod is made from fiberglass, most of the core and structural support is made from steel. While steel offers great strength and longevity, working with it can be difficult. Cutting these thick steel plates must be done with an oxy-acetylene torch which heats the metal and then uses the…
Special LED lighting
Omer Larrañaga Technology
Here we have Omer giving us a demonstration of the LED light strips that we will be using in the SeaPod and the app that will control them. The entire lighting system required a ton of research and testing, but we have found an option that will work perfectly for us.Omer has two different LED light…