I actually hope this becomes real vehicle, although it seems, and my comment perhaps amplified it, that there’s a sentiment reflecting doubts about the feasibility of the technology at all.
Maybe it works for large lakes and hot seas at all.
Great question! A lot of absolute shite in the comments here. If you dream about building a factory then here's my thoughts:
Read
- Read "Faster, Better, Cheaper in the History of Manufacturing" by Christoph Roser - it's an expensive book but gives a great overview of how we got to where we are in manufacturing. From stone tools through bronze casting, Venetian shipbuilders, Josiah Wedgwood, the Portsmouth Block Mill [0] and so on.
- Simon Winchester's "Precision" is a great book too - more concentrated on the emergence of machine tools which will be your BREAD AND BUTTER in a factory.
Steam engines are irrelevant to you but the tools they drove - the lathe, shaper, milling machine are still pretty much exactly the same. Big difference is instead of a man operating them they are CNC.
To know how to make stuff, you need to be able to look at anything and have a rough idea how it's made. What materials, what processes, and then you can figure out why it's done that way. You won't find a piece of solid wood wider than about 3" at Ikea. Why? Because wider wood is massively more expensive than narrow wood.
- Materials: metals, plastics. Wood and glass are a bit niche really.
- Essential machines: the bandsaw, angle grinder, drill press, the lathe, milling machine, angle grinder, tube bender, sheet metal brake.
- Joining metal: Welding, riveting, rivnuts, taps and dies.
- Casting and foundry work, blacksmithing (surprisingly accessible)
I'd say woodworking is a terrible entry into manufacturing. I went that way because it's useful for renovations. But working the wood is a craft, and I wish I'd started with fabrication and machining.
Likewise, very little is 3D printed at scale. It's great for prototyping and looking at things - that's about it. People will argue, but go to any big-box retailer and try to find something that's been 3D printed...
Electronics: You can now build a massive amount of useful consumer electronics without needing to design PCBs. I've built central heating thermostats, wifi-controlled extractor fans, infrared break beams etc. ESP32, ESP8266 platforms are great for playing with. ESPHome is software that makes programming these devices really easy: here's an example of what you can make https://esphome.io/guides/diy - they have a list of devices they support, that's basically a list of industry standard electronics building blocks for you: https://esphome.io/index.html#sensor-components . You'll quickly realise that a lot of electronics is just the same stuff.
I'm out of time so I'm just going to throw references your way:
How interesting that you're on HN. We regularly travel up and down the ship canal to/from Manchester. Give me a shout if you're ever in Manchester again, I think we'd enjoy a beer.
It depends on the level of comfort you want. If you're willing to shit in a bucket and shower once a fortnight then you can do it very cheaply and it'll be acceptable. Try that in a house and there will be concerns for your welfare. If you want a bathtub, on-demand central heating, a big fridge-freezer, bow thrusters, macerator toilets and a permanent mooring with mains electricity then you'll pay much more than you would for a house. Horses for courses. But doing things on boats is fun, and inventing solutions is great.
Edit: You wanted a figure - for the sort of boat you'll find on a canal in the UK. Bottom end: buy a small fibreglass boat for £5k, pay £1k a year for your licence (many at this end don't bother. Another £1k a year for maintenance and fuel )
Top end: Buy a big boat for £300k, £2k a year licence, £6k mooring, £1k insurance, £5-10k a year in maintenance.
Also factor in that boats mostly depreciate (though the last couple of years have been an exception). If you spend £100k on a boat today, you won't be able to sell it in 10 years get that £100k back. If you fail to keep on top of maintenance a boat will rapidly lose value.
Fellow boater here - I live on a Dutch Barge. Also awake at 0530 with creaking lines in this storm. Lovely lifestyle. We registered our new baby’s address as the boat on a birth certificate last week and had no problems. Good luck to any future researcher geocoding that! I expected a postcode to be required but it wasn’t :)
Ah I love a Dutch barge, does yours have functioning leeboards? Very surprised you didn't need a postcode for the address on the birth certificate - although I suppose if it's 'place of birth', it could be anywhere really and that place might not have a postcode.
No leeboards I'm afraid - mine is a replica Luxemotor built in 2011. I have a friend with leeboards and they are beautiful but without sails they are just ornamental and one more thing to sand and varnish!
Yes - it feels like a lot of words around a shallow amount of knowledge. I was hoodwinked there - interesting topic, unsatisfying article. I also thought the image at the top looks AI generated.
Almost everything you see is residential. And in the case of the new office blocks (the Canary Wharf shots), the developers are seeking consent for residential conversions. Playing SimCity and building only residential zones doesn't tend to work out great.
I wrote the logistics platform for our company - UK-based, £4m revenue. I'll be happy to have an honest chat with you if it would be helpful.