An Everett-based start-up is developing a plan to explore places no man or woman has gone before.
Strike that. Make that places no robot has gone before.
OceanGate, a small venture that’s not yet even a year old, is trying to pioneer an entrepreneurial business model for ocean research. The company is debuting a funding model that incorporates adventure tourism and education to make research more affordable.
For now, OceanGate is working through the necessary steps to get its newly acquired research submarine Antipodes certified in the United States. When that process wraps up in the fall, they’ll be open for business, taking so-called “citizen scientists” along on research expeditions for a fee.
Last week, OceanGate had a try-it-yourself tank set up at the University of Washington. Slowly and carefully, researchers, students and fans of oceanography used arcade-game-like controls to direct a small ROV submarine around a deep pool inside the UW Ocean Sciences building.
Their objective: Pick up a golf ball from the bottom of the pool and place it on the end of a pipe.
That means navigating around the obstacles — mainly plastic pipes — inside the pool. It means keeping clear of the other ROV’s tether. It means handing the controls over to OceanGate pros to untangle and redirect the little creature that sputters and whirls like a mechanical fish.
The OceanGate staff is pretty patient with “non-scientists.” Their business model depends on it.
OceanGate started out as a simple idea — that scientific research and adventure tourism might be a good pairing.
Co-founder Guillermo Söhnlein hasn’t settled on exactly how much it will cost to be a part of research projects, and some of that will depend on whether it’s a one-day outing or a trip that lasts closer to a week.
The cost of peering at the Titanic’s wreckage through a tiny window in a submarine runs close to $40,000.
Söhnlein, who worked with tech start-ups before launching OceanGate with an angel investor last fall, says he wants to solve a problem: Much of the ocean is unexplored, mainly due to shortages in research funding.
So eager novices foot part of the bill, researchers get their projects subsidized (not to mention an extra pair of hands) and everyone wins. That’s the idea, anyway.
“We’re packaging it in a way that gives them an opportunity to actually participate in field research,” Söhnlein said. “They’re going to have some role — they’re not just going to sit there.”
Some researchers were skeptical of the idea at first, he said. But educators are used to helping novices find their away around a difficult field of study, and scientists at nonprofits and government agencies tend to recognize that the idea holds promise as a funding model.
The model doesn’t work for everyone, Söhnlein said.
“It takes a special kind of researcher to be able to work well with non-scientists,” he said.
Eventually, Söhnlein would like to see this business model replicated around the world. He wants to collect data with the ROVs and make it publicly available.
That’s where the concept behind the company’s Web address comes in: www.opentheoceans.com.
Read Amy Rolph’s small-business blog at www.heraldnet.com/TheStorefront. Contact her at 425-339-3029 or arolph@heraldnet.com.
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