(from Scuttlebutt Sailing News) “Hey! You hit the mark! Do your turns!” “No way, man! I didn’t hit the mark!” There’s always that one guy on the course who definitely hit the mark, but never wants to take the penalty. With MarkSetBot SplatterBeta, it’s not a problem anymore! The MarkSetBot team is thrilled to announce its latest race course innovation: a hit-mark penalty system, MarkSetBot Splatter. Now, you can equip your MarkSetBot buoys with dye pack technology and stop the “did we hit the mark” question for good. Through a sophisticated network of low-latency sensors, MarkSetBot’s hit-mark technology accurately recognizes contact – from a slight brush of the mark to a head-on collision – and with a boom, deploys the dye pack. Forty-seven ultrasonic nozzles receive sensor inputs 400 times per second and stand ready to punish no matter the location of impact. Notably, they adjust dynamically to direct the splatter at only the offending boat. A 360-degree camera add-on records the moment of impact and instantly uploads it to the MarkSetBot.com Wall of Shame. MarkSetBot’s proprietary, non-toxic, biodegradable dye easily washes off fiberglass and sailcloth with a simple water rinse, but it bonds with skin for days. So, sailors take note. Let’s see some clean roundings or find your way to a Blue Man Group audition. “When I first pitched MarkSetBot Splatter to the team, our CEO said ‘I love it, but won’t people be upset when we ruin their sails with dye?’ He had a good point. So I watched a lot of Bill Nye videos, learned the finer points of chemistry and developed our washable dye. I managed to make it washable on all surfaces except skin,” snickered Jim Thompson, chief engineer of MarkSetBot Splatter. – Full report |