Abstract: Techniques related to a modular computing node are disclosed. The modular computing node includes at least a first unit. The first unit includes a memory and one or more processors that execute instructions stored in the memory. The one or more processors are powered by electricity that is converted from solar energy captured by a tubular solar panel. A first interface of the first unit includes one or more first electrical contacts. The first interface forms a watertight seal with a second interface of a second unit based on a twisting motion. Furthermore, a signal bus is formed based on the twisting motion based on aligning the one or more first electrical contacts with one or more second electrical contacts of the second interface.

Abstract: A node of a fault-tolerant system relies upon a primary communication mechanism, when possible, for primary connection to a central server. The node monitors its primary connection to the server. While the primary connection is active, the node operates in a supervised mode, in that it generally does not perform a certain subset of tasks without having received real-time commands from the server to perform those tasks. However, when the node detects that it is no longer connected to the server, the node transitions into a fail-over mode. The node operates in the fail-over mode until the node detects that primary connection is re-established. While in fail-over mode, the node may execute a stored set of fail-over instructions that were provided by the server. The node may also attempt to establish a backup connection to the server via a second and different type of communication mechanism.