August 24, 1987

Robot to brave lair of Serpent
The Province, Vancouver

News Services

Peachland -Ogopogo meets heavy metal.

The shy, legendary serpent who guards the silent depths of Okanagan Lake will meet a rival this week when inventor Hank Pronk sends his robot water-spy down below.

Pronk, 25, of Canal Flats and brother Sjac plan to send the submersible, pintsized robot to join the action -and videotape it- under water.

Pronk, a mechanic, says the robot began as a 45-kilogram (100-lb.) propane tank, but, with some used auto parts and a little creativity, has advanced to high tech with a mechanical arm, a video camera and a stereo system.

"It was actually built for salvage (operations)," Pronk said, adding that the hunt for the lake creature would serve as litmus test of the robot's skills.

"I believe in the possibility that Ogopogo exists," says Pronk.

The brothers plan to drop the as-yet-unnamed robot from a sailboat equipped with a television monitor. An umbilical cord connects the robot to the boat.

But if Pronk gets Ogopogo on tape -he won't be the first.

An ABC television crew earlier this summer shot an underwater episode for a series called Secrets and Mysteries. The show, to be aired this fall, claims a sighting of the humped-back Ogopogo.

Los Angeles-based cameraman Michael Tabor and producer David Frank also say they have captured the serpent -on film.

Gerry Frederick, manager of the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce, who accompanied them on the hunt, said he saw dark humps on the surface of the water and a wake behind them -and there wasn't a boat in sight.

August 24, 1987

Submersible robot to join search for legendary Ogopogo
By Dave Duncan
Penticton Herald

Staff Writer

A Canal Flats inventor is the latest person to announce a high technology search for the shy serpent of Okanagan Lake. -Ogopogo.

Hank Pronks, 25, and-his younger brother, Sjac, will be bringing a submersible robot slightly less than one-metre in length to the Peachland area, and videotaping any underwater action the robot "sees".

In a telephone interview with the Herald, Pronk explained that the robot began its life as a 100 pound propane tank, and acquired various parts, including a mechanical arm.

"It was actually built for salvage (operations)," he said.

The Ogopogo voyage will serve more as a test of his robot's capabilities than anything else.

"I believe in the possibility that Ogopogo exists," said Pronk; but he added that he wouldn't take out a $5,000 bank loan to finance an extensive search out of a firm conviction that the lake serpent, is for real.

Pronk said he and his brother will use a sailboat equipped with a television monitor to keep tabs on the underwater sights captured by the robot's video camera, and anything that appears exciting will be videotaped. An umbilical cord will connect the robot to the sailboat on the surface.

"I'm going deep because nobody else has gone deep and sitting on the surface hasn't worked for anybody," said Pronk.

The autobody man, who said he, used several car parts (including relays and electronics) in building the submersible robot, said there are other underwater robots around, but to his knowledge they are only capable of taking pictures.

"Mine can do work. It can detect metal and pick objects up (with its arm)... I can also play music to fish," said Pronk.

He is also working on a silt pump which can be used to pump silt away from underwater areas.

The robot also has a ballast system, but Pronk said he will be suspending it from a cable during testing until he can prove the ballast system works satisfactorily.