Keelcrab. An alternative to Antifoul?

BruceK

BruceK

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Saw this in Kickstarter and piqued my interest. A drone for cleaning the boat hull of fouling. If it works well and can handle barnacles and other crustaceans before they get too much of a hold it may prove to be worth it's asking price. Waiting with baited breath on user feedback.
Anybody here want to be a trailblazer and get the first release of the unit and report back?


https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/632307707/the-first-underwater-drone-for-the-care-of-your-hu

http://www.keelcrab.com/en/keelcrab-pro/
 
It specifically states that hulls should still be antifouled as the drone wont remove oysters and other hard shell life that forms on untreated hulls.

Still, safer than a diver. if it could do props and stern gear id be tempted to try it out but it cant so I don't think its worth it.
 
mmm. The designer cant make up his mind. In the Kickstarter presentation he said different. Mind you I struggled with the accent a bit. Thing is, halfway through my summer cruise I had to get a diver down to give my hull a scrape. The AF works, just not absolutely and so still need a diver / lift and wash half way through each season. If development does take it to the Kickstarter promise of no AF required I would buy it. This season I have the onerous task of scraping off by hand several layers of AF as slurry blasting is not allowed in my area (River Conservancy)
 
Whitelighter said:
It specifically states that hulls should still be antifouled as the drone wont remove oysters and other hard shell life that forms on untreated hulls.

Still, safer than a diver. if it could do props and stern gear id be tempted to try it out but it cant so I don't think its worth it.
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I agree, one or two years ago they were touting this (or a rival) at boat shows and I was offered the chance. I remember thinking it was a bit expensive and also thought it's more yachtie orientated, round hulls and folding props although the salesman said it's also for motoboats. I declined, I don't think my pool robot could get barnacles off my pool sides and the robots don't like complicated shapes.
 
Whitelighter said:
Still, safer than a diver.
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According to the website, it still needs a diver!

"the diver is transported by the drone movement along the hull, and he has only to guide the drone"
"Side handles and underwater control switches for a firm grip of the drone and to control on and off switching"
Pictures of human hands holding it.

This isn't a drone at all, just a powered scrubber to make a hull-cleaning diver's life a little easier.

EDIT: I now realise there are two versions here - the original manual one at their main website, and the "drone" upgrade on Kickstarter. At least that implies that the mechanical side might vaguely work :)

Pete
 
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Bouba said:
I agree, one or two years ago they were touting this (or a rival) at boat shows and I was offered the chance. I remember thinking it was a bit expensive and also thought it's more yachtie orientated, round hulls and folding props although the salesman said it's also for motoboats. I declined, I don't think my pool robot could get barnacles off my pool sides and the robots don't like complicated shapes.
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I agree it is unlikely to remove established barnacles. If used regularly it should be able to remove them at a larval stage though thus preventing them and the start of any following colony
 
I guess this would work as a consortium purchase; say ten guys in the same marina sharing one.
 
TheOrs said:
I guess this would work as a consortium purchase; say ten guys in the same marina sharing one.
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With ten owners and needing to use it very regularly to preempt barnacles then service life has to be good. But saying that, if it only lasted two years, then if it cost less than 20 grand it might be a bargain. It's hard to predict if a new technology will catch on (anti fouling break throughs are particularly scarce) but you never know
 
The MRSP is 3315 euro. For a consortium of 10 it's less than the expected price bracket for a lift wash and antifoul for a single season.
 
I think it's a modified pool cleaner. I dont think it would clean what we traditionally see as a dirty hull. By then it's too far gone. What I think it has a good chance of doing is keeping a clean hull clean. i.e. proactive care before fouling has a chance to get thick and adhere. Provided it's a drone, remote and can access all areas of a hull it may just be the ticket. e.g. once a fortnight give it a whirl alongside other maintenance. If you are away from your boat for long periods then it may not be for you. But saying all that I think it may just have legs
 
It looks slow, a lot of patience required to clean a decent sized hull and it relies on an underwater camera which is fine in crystal clear med waters but...
 
Keelcrab is not the first device of it's kind. Anybody remember "Hulltimo"? Yeah, that's what I thought. Like that "robot", this one is likely to end up on the trash heap of hull cleaning history as well, and for all the same reasons.
 
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