Would you use an autonomous robot to map out beaches and find targets? (Looking for feedback/Beta testers!)

[zahalay]

Hi everyone,
As a fellow detectorist, I’ve always found it frustrating how much time we waste swinging over "dead zones" and empty sand, especially on massive beaches or in shallow waters.
To solve this, I’ve been developing ZAHLAI—an autonomous, low-profile crawler robot designed specifically for beach and shallow water recovery.
Here is a quick breakdown of what it does:
Ultra-Low Profile & Lightweight: It stands at just 30 cm (11.8 inches) high to handle waves/currents and weighs only 13 kg (28 lbs) for easy one-man transport.
Waterproof up to 2 meters (6.5 feet): Perfect for checking those gold-heavy troughs and shallow water areas.
Smart Grid Mapping & Detection: It autonomously scans a grid pattern using advanced multi-frequency detection and centimeter-accurate RTK GPS.
Real-Time Target Map: Instead of you swinging for hours, the robot maps the area and drops a red pin (POI) on a digital map whenever it locates a solid target. You just open your phone, walk straight to the pins, and dig. It cuts out 90% of the wasted time.
Built-in Compliance: It features automatic geo-fencing to ensure it never scans in restricted or protected zones.
[יישר כאן את תמונת הזחלאי שהעלית]
We are currently moving toward building our first field prototypes and wanted to get some honest feedback from the community.
Would you use or purchase a tool like this to supercharge your hunting? If you want to see more details, get exclusive tech updates, or join our early-bird/beta testing group, please send a quick email to: [email protected]
Please include:
First Name & Last Name
Your Email
Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below as well!
Happy hunting,
David

 

[markinmichigan]

Would you like my bank routing number as well? Sounds like a "swell" invention. Keep us posted

 

[Ken Clad]

open your phone, walk straight to the pins, and dig.

Would you use or purchase a tool like this to supercharge your hunting?

Well, I see a couple issues. At 30 pounds I'm not lugging it anywhere. Add to that, 1) my phone isn't waterproof so now you've got to play around with that 2) I go to the beach to get the he11 away from my phone 3) most of my time on the beach is about the sights. This is supposed to be the thrill of the hunt. What happened to that? The true number of targets versus the cost of the device… not seeing it.

On top of that (if that isn't enough) you're a first time poster soliciting personal information. Gee… do I smell a scam… what could possibly go wrong. Sorry I'll pass, and you're gonna need to build up your credibility.

Good luck.

 

[randy]

Will Nigerian princes be on the testing team?

As I'm sure you are aware, GPS only penetrates 1-3 inches in salt water. RTK still requires the microwave signals from the satellites. Will this unit come with the terrestrial infrastructure to make the RTK work outside the salt water, and to send a different signal to the underwater unit? It boggles the mind how all that will work. Please explain. Do the Nigerians have an advance system to do this?

As was pointed out, 30 lbs is heavy. But not heavy enough to withstand rip currents. Underwater sand cuts could be evidence of rip currents, and even if not, they can kick up randomly. What technology is on the unit to mitigate rip currents, or will the next dude to hit the beach with their detector find one of these?

I want one, but those pesky Nigerians took all my money.

 

[stetam]

yeah man

 

[sube]

I want the park model .. sube
First Name & Last Name
Your Email
Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below as well!
Happy hunting,
David
John Fallfor anything
John@dumbvill .com

 

[zahalay]

Would you like my bank routing number as well? Sounds like a "swell" invention. Keep us posted

Thank you for your interest we understand your scepticism. But can we maybe get an opinion if you would use a device like this?

 

[zahalay]

Well, I see a couple issues. At 30 pounds I'm not lugging it anywhere. Add to that, 1) my phone isn't waterproof so now you've got to play around with that 2) I go to the beach to get the he11 away from my phone 3) most of my time on the beach is about the sights. This is supposed to be the thrill of the hunt. What happened to that? The true number of targets versus the cost of the device… not seeing it.

On top of that (if that isn't enough) you're a first time poster soliciting personal information. Gee… do I smell a scam… what could possibly go wrong. Sorry I'll pass, and you're gonna need to build up your credibility.

Good luck.

For of all thank you for you time and response! we have most of the teething issues under control and are working on them. But would you see yourself use a device like this?

 

[zahalay]

Will Nigerian princes be on the testing team?

As I'm sure you are aware, GPS only penetrates 1-3 inches in salt water. RTK still requires the microwave signals from the satellites. Will this unit come with the terrestrial infrastructure to make the RTK work outside the salt water, and to send a different signal to the underwater unit? It boggles the mind how all that will work. Please explain. Do the Nigerians have an advance system to do this?

As was pointed out, 30 lbs is heavy. But not heavy enough to withstand rip currents. Underwater sand cuts could be evidence of rip currents, and even if not, they can kick up randomly. What technology is on the unit to mitigate rip currents, or will the next dude to hit the beach with their detector find one of these?

I want one, but those pesky Nigerians took all my money.

Thank you for you response (even though sarcastic) … we are still interested to hear if you would use this?

 

[LovestheShiny!]

For an older guy or gal who is well off and loves to detect, this idea may be golden. Less walking, digging, easier on the old body that has some aches and pains.

 

[Dr. Dirt]

Hell no !

 

[Dr. Dirt]

For an older guy or gal who is well off and loves to detect, this idea may be golden. Less walking, digging, easier on the old body that has some aches and pains.

If l were even more crippled up than I am now and were “well off”, I’d have either my butler or my bodyguard do my digging.

 

[zahalay]

For an older guy or gal who is well off and loves to detect, this idea may be golden. Less walking, digging, easier on the old body that has some aches and pains.

Thank you for the output yes that’s our goal to change the way we enjoy our habit and make it more accessible and easy

 

[zahalay]

If l were even more crippled up than I am now and were “well off”, I’d have either my butler or my bodyguard do my digging.

Hey thank you for your thoughts may we ask why is the idea not attractive for you

 

[Dr. Dirt]

Yes ,you can ask and that’s about it.

 

[Rudy]

Hi everyone,
As a fellow detectorist, I’ve always found it frustrating how much time we waste swinging over "dead zones" and empty sand, especially on massive beaches or in shallow waters.
To solve this, I’ve been developing ZAHLAI—an autonomous, low-profile crawler robot designed specifically for beach and shallow water recovery.
Here is a quick breakdown of what it does:
Ultra-Low Profile & Lightweight: It stands at just 30 cm (11.8 inches) high to handle waves/currents and weighs only 13 kg (28 lbs) for easy one-man transport.
Waterproof up to 2 meters (6.5 feet): Perfect for checking those gold-heavy troughs and shallow water areas.
Smart Grid Mapping & Detection: It autonomously scans a grid pattern using advanced multi-frequency detection and centimeter-accurate RTK GPS.
Real-Time Target Map: Instead of you swinging for hours, the robot maps the area and drops a red pin (POI) on a digital map whenever it locates a solid target. You just open your phone, walk straight to the pins, and dig. It cuts out 90% of the wasted time.
Built-in Compliance: It features automatic geo-fencing to ensure it never scans in restricted or protected zones.
[יישר כאן את תמונת הזחלאי שהעלית]
We are currently moving toward building our first field prototypes and wanted to get some honest feedback from the community.
Would you use or purchase a tool like this to supercharge your hunting? If you want to see more details, get exclusive tech updates, or join our early-bird/beta testing group, please send a quick email to: [email protected]
Please include:
First Name & Last Name
Your Email
Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below as well!
Happy hunting,
David

What do you propose to use for the RTK base station? There may not be one sufficiently close to the beach site. In general, to achieve a positioning accuracy of less than an inch (2.54 cm), the RTK station needs to be no farther than around 10 miles (16 Km).
If your device is planned to be used by a user supplied RTK base station, then how does the user accurately determine its position in order to obtain centimeter accuracy?

Also, the rover will need to have some kind of collision avoidance so as not to hit beach goers, trash cans, fire pits, etc. In addition, kids are known for digging holes in the sand and not filling them, the rover would also need to detect these to avoid falling in.

These were not addressed in your post.

Last, but not least, a cell phone's GPS and map app, to my knowledge, do not use RTK,
so how will the hunter go back to the POI with centimeter accuracy?

 

[Dr. Dirt]

Hey Rudy, you are too kind , this guy should be paying you for doing all this technical troubleshooting for him.

 

[Rattlehead]

Ever been to the beach?? That thing wouldn’t make it 10 yards before people stop it to ask what it’s doing, what it’s found, etc. Some kid would be trying to ride it or some thug would just take it. Good luck with that.

 

[TexasDigs]

Just learn to read the beach and head out with a 3 pound detector and a scoop. Easiest way to find jewelry.

 

[Bear stalker]

What a great idea! I've sent you all my personal information and included my CC number, expiration date and PIN so that I can get the first unit off the production line!
I was going to post my info here but you never know who might be lurking in the shadows around here. I'm very cautious with my personal info like that and take great care not to let it fall into the wrong hands.

It would be great if you could rig up mower blades on my unit. That way I'll be sure to get permission from home owners when I offer to mow their lawn for free in exchange for permission to metal detect.