There’s news today that Liquid Robotics, the maker of the Wave
Glider ocean exploration robotic platform, has recruited James
Gosling, the creator of the Java programming language. The Wave
Glider drones are an innovative sensor platform that can last
years and travel thousands of miles, carrying a variety of
sensor payloads. Understanding the Big Data and network
challenges of this sensor fleet, the company used the shared Sun
Microsystems ties between Liquid Robotics’ CEO Bill Vass and
Gosling to win him over from Google. In addition to the sensor
platform, Liquid Robotics has also set up a Data-as-a-Service
cloud offering to provide real-time access to their ocean
information. These challenges and the world-changing
possibilities spiked Gosling’s interest, as he said, “It
involves a large data problem and a large-scale control problem,
both of which are fascinating to me and have been passions of
mine for years.” Wave Gliders are being used for scientific
research by the National Ocean and Atmospheric Admi