Darkness

A few years ago in 2017, I was approached by the Discovery Channel to develop a robot for a new TV Show. The show was to be called “Darkess” and was a Survival/Reality TV program which took place in complete darkness. It was filmed in caves, abandoned mines and other locations with very little natural Illumination. The Idea was to capture how humans would interact with each other in isolation without any of the usual sensory cues like the ability to see.

The Discovery Channel asked me to develop a remotely operated platform with a wide wheelbase, low center of gravity and some type of Infra-Red Illuminator.

Since the show was to be shot entirely in the dark no visible light could be used- everything had to be Infra-Red.

The team at the Discovery Channel would mount their own cameras which were specially modified to “see” in IR light. They needed a rugged platform with a threaded gimbal mount so they could attach a DJI gimbal or similar active camera stabilizer. It needed to be stealthy quiet, carry a 7 lb. payload, move easily, rotate in place and be rugged enough to withstand the rigors of a Hollywood filming within a mine or cave.

Filming was set to commence in 2 weeks, so we really had to scramble to design, build, test and tweak this new design. We did so and shipped my “IR Bot” out to Hollywood just in time for the first filming.

The premise of one of the shows was this: Three individuals enter the pitch-black space from separate entrances. They must find each other in total darkness- through the sense of sound and touch and then work together to locate the exit of the 150 miles of the cave system. Inspired by sensory deprivation training, contestants are pushed to the max while they are stuck inside a cave for a week. The contestants have to locate each other and work together to find a way out.

 The camera platform which we built for the show worked extremely well since it could move very slowly over rough and often unknown terrain in completely pitch-black cave systems, mines and other challenging environments.

The show only lasted for two episodes because as it turns out - spending that many days in complete darkness starts to screw with your brain, and hallucinations start to occur. Contestants only have six days to exit, because beyond that, they could damage themselves physically and psychologically.