I Have Proof of a Water Game... sort of

[meatmanek]

To those of you saying "Electricity + Water == Bad":
Ever seen a boat?
Some nice equipment, plus a bit of carefulness, plus circuit breakers == safe.
Besides, we're talking about 12V here, very little chance of electrocution. Waterproofing electronics can be done, IFI would just have to release a waterproof Victor and Spike (Victor would be pretty hard to do, unless they assume that it'd be underwater - think cooling). Then they'd have to provide a nice waterproof electrical box with some sort of waterproof quick disconnect system, and mandate that any self made connections are heatshrinked using hot glue-filled heat shrink. Then of course, we'd need a waterproof version of the CMUCam2, or they'd just have to go with a different sensor (SONAR, anyone?). Perhaps they could also provide a standard waterproof hull to those teams who don't trust their welding or plastic working skills. (Or rivets and caulk, or any number of solutions)

http://www.jbn-duraline.com/duraline...tors_3wire.htm
http://www.l-com.com/item.aspx?id=7348

A water game would provide endless opportunity for innovation. Think of all the different hull styles out there, all the different methods for propulsion...
Turbines, Propellers, Paddle wheels.
Standard single hulls, Catamarans, Trimarans.
Submarines, hovercrafts, hydrofoils.

Teams who are creative and innovative enough could come up with some really cool designs. Holonomic submarines (think 6 full degrees of freedom), boats capable of propelling themselves out of the water, amphibious robots.

What if they threw a curveball at us and made us all use sailboats? Only give us servo motors, and put big fans on one side of the field. That'd provide opportunity for some really neat coding.

Think of the innovative control systems teams could come up with.

Now, all that being said, do I think it's likely? Not for next year. The number of sponsors that would be required to provide the KOP equipment for a water game would be tremendous. If you start seeing more and more sponsors that also produce waterproof equipment, then you can start to worry.