The robot was programmed to create a data-point cloud using a traditional sonar scan.

ECONOMIST: Monitor

Sonar scans done at a safe distance of 10 metres create a rough image known as a data-point cloud.

ECONOMIST: Monitor

To work around these problems, Dr Hover came up with the idea of using the data-point cloud not to spot mines, but as a guide to help the robot take a closer look at the hull.

ECONOMIST: Monitor

It then combines this real-time information with ephemeris data, mapping, cellular base station and Wi-Fi access point database information, and other cloud-based aiding information using the SiRFusion platform.

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In theory, that approach sounds great: buy point-solution apps from a variety of cloud-application vendors in the hopes of obtaining attractive pricing along with perhaps some best of breed technologies.

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Case in point: Oracle and the cloud-computing revolution.

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And new software, plus the ability to vary the projected sizes and brightnesses of planets and moons, makes it possible to simulate the sky from anywhere in the solar system: to see earthrise from Mars, for example, or to watch Jupiter's moons rise and set from a vantage point just above the gas giant's cloud-tops.

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The point is that we are living in a connected world, and we are tapping into cloud-based services more than ever before.

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Consider this scenario: A department with a pain point around visualizing and using large data sets could easily snap in a cloud provider through an easy-to-engage vendor who meets this specific need after a short departmental-led decision process.

FORBES: Knowing Your Buyers Is Half The Journey