Newsgroups: comp.robotics
Path: brunix!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!sdd.hp.com!ncr-sd!ncrhub2!ncrgw2.ncr.com!psinntp!ims.com!deang
From: deang@ims.com (Dean Gehnert)
Subject: Re: The Free Willy Orca Robot: anybody have details?
Message-ID: <1993Sep3.190951.23498@ims.com>
Sender: usenet@ims.com (USENET News Poster)
Organization: Integrated Measurement Systems, Inc.
References: <CCMvvJ.5yy@math.uwaterloo.ca> <1993Sep2.131013.6252@focus-systems.on.ca>
Date: Fri, 3 Sep 1993 19:09:51 GMT
Lines: 39

>>Apparently for the movie, an anthropormorphically correct robot was
>>made of the killer whale.  My source sez that when this device was
>>lowered into the water, it did exhibit a strong swimming capability.
>>He knew nothing more however.
>>
>>I have not seen the movie, but does anybody have any further details as
>>to if this robot was a tethered puppet (aka: Rex from Jurassic park) or
>>fairly autonomous?  Any article references would be appreciated.  

>	On the show "How did they do that?" they featured this robot.  The 
>robot was, if I remember correctly, hydraulic (sp?) powered for the gross
>movements at least.  It was also capable of realistic eye and blow hole
>movements.  As far as I could tell, the beast was radio controlled and
>completely sealed in its rubber skin.  The show did imply that if it didn't
>work that it would have meant tearing it apart to get at the mechanics.
>(No zipper I guess).  There was no tether that I could see, in the behind
>the scenes shots they showed, so I assume that it had some kind of port
>for recharging batteries.

The Orca actually had a tether/umbilical that was in the bottom and went to
a support ship/barge for the hydraulics and controls. The umbilical was black
in color and long so it was well below the water and blended in for the shots.


>	The creators apparently spent a great deal of time making it as
>much like its live counter-part as possible.  Detailed measurements were
>taken, its motion was closely duplicated, and even its mass and volume
>where the same.

A charter SCUBA boat I dive from in the San Jaun Islands (StarFire in
Anacortes, Washington) was chartered for support during the movie.
The owners of the boat said it was hard to tell the "robot" from a
real Orca, unless you saw the umbilical cord.

-- 
Dean W. Gehnert, Integrated Measurement Systems
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