An ocean exploration platform delivering underwater experiences anytime, anywhere
Aalto Explorer
Aalto Industries Oy
Project Manager & Industrial Designer
Helsinki, Finland | 2017-2019
Objective: to design and develop an underwater drone prototype capable of submerging to depths of up to 50 metres, remotely controlled via a mobile network, and manufactured within a €10,000– €20,000 budget.
Contribution: ROV & floating module designs, ROV manufacturing, booth design, presentations, project management, project plan, project roadmap & budget management.
Exhibitions: Aalto University 10 years (2020), IFA Berlín 2019, World Ocean Day 2019 & Dubai Design Week 2018.
The ocean covers nearly 70% of the Earth, yet 95% of it remains unexplored. Aalto Explorer is an ocean exploration service–product platform designed to make deep-sea exploration accessible to anyone with a passion for the ocean, anywhere and at any time.
Aalto Explorer originated at the Aalto Design Factory ias part of the Product Development Project (PDP) course during a master’s programme. The project was developed by Findia, a multidisciplinary team of ten master’s students from across Aalto University in Finland and the Indian School of Design and Innovation (ISDI) in India. After the course ended, the project continued independently for another year by the company.
Project management
The product development process centred on three core components of the service–product system: a remotely operated vehicle (Find-X ROV), a floating module, and the Aalto Explorer control platform. Drawing on previous experience of working across disciplines and mapping the team’s skill sets, I structured the work into three cross-functional, multidisciplinary sub-teams. These teams focused respectively on the development of the hardware and software architectures, the user experience, and the business model.
FIND-X 1.0 & 2.0
The project unfolded over the course of a year, beginning entirely from scratch. With a budget of €10,000, the team developed two functional prototypes—versions 1.0 and 2.0—each progressively refining the core functions and sensors to perform reliably in real-world underwater conditions.
The evolution of the prototypes reflected a hands-on, iterative design process, balancing technical feasibility with user experience and environmental testing. The journey culminated in the public unveiling of the final prototype at the PDP Gala in the summer of 2018, showcasing the tangible results of a year of collaborative innovation.
FIND-X 3.0
Following the success of the initial prototypes, the company embarked on the next iteration in 2019: FIND-X 3.0. The goal was to develop a more robust and refined prototype with a budget of €20,000, aiming to attract investors through a crowdfunding campaign and ultimately launch a minimum viable product by the end of the year.
The project embraced a service oriented business model, offering underwater exploration as a subscription based experience. Customers could book real-time expedition slots and select one of three immersive roles, tailored to their interests:
Captain – takes control of driving the ROV.
Researcher – accesses and interprets all sensor data.
Passenger – experiences the expedition through the 360° camera using a mobile device, tablet, or VR headset.
Manufacturing & Tests
ROV milling process.
ROV painting process.
ROV features' remote control testing.
PDP team of the year 2018
Team 2017-2018: Riku Ala-laurinaho, Megha Bhaskar, Adriana Gómez, Henri Joona, Arpita Kabra, Rucha Khot, Vivek Kishore, Manuel Rosales, Anderson Sales and Loi Tran.
Team 2019: Izzan Bacharrudin, Adriana Gómez, Henri Joona, Arpita Kabra, Andrés Prieto, Manuel Rosales, Maimuna Syed and Loi Tran.
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