Robot Living

The Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences is about to launch a fleet of 9 robotic gliders into the Atlantic ocean.

The gliders can last for weeks or months and only consume as much energy as a bicycle light.  They navigate between the surface and up to 1,000 ft underwater in a see saw pattern while collecting measurements.

After final tests the robots will be released mid-March 2010 at about 60 nautical miles north-east of the Cape Verde Island of Sao Vicente. For two months they will investigate physical and biogeochemical quantities of the Atlantic Ocean around the oceanographic long-term observatory TENATSO. Goals of the experiment lead jointly by Prof. Torsten Kanzow, Prof. Julie LaRoche (marine biology) and Prof. Arne Körtzinger (marine chemistry) are to get new insights into water circulation and stratification as well as their impact on chemical and biological processes.

The gliders are made by Teledyne Webb Research.  See our previous post Teledyne Awarded Navy Contract.

See data from some previous glider missions here or check out the glider homepage.

Link via (TG Daily)

Tags: glider, UAV

A new robot called Gymnobot from researchers at the University of Bath in England has been unveiled.

Taking inspiration from the Amazonian knifefish, they have created an underwater vehicle that uses a long fin to propel itself.

Not wanting to use a conventional propeller, they have created a long fin under the vehicle that mimics one found on a knifefish.  This is more energy efficient and has much less chance of getting tangled in weeds.  It also allows the submersible vehicle to travel in much shallower water.

Pictured here are postgraduate researchers Keri Collins and Ryan Ladd from the University of Bath.

Link via (PhysOrg)

The Benthic Rover from the Monterey Bay Aquarium travels the ocean floor, giving scientists a glimpse of what life is like in the briny deep.

The orange and yellow parts of the rover are buoyant foam that helps keep the rover from sinking into the sandy ocean floor.

The rover also contains a custom made titanium sphere to withstand the pressure and house important electronics and batteries.  It also moves at only 3 feet per minute so as not to stir up too much sediment and contaminate its readings. It also stops every 10 to 15 feet to take different measurements of its surroundings.

This past July the rover traveled 40 miles of the coast of California and they hope to deploy it again for two months later this fall, where hopefully it will finally find Davey Jones’s Locker or at least some pirate treasure.

Link via (Phys Org)

Japanese firm NTT has developed a giant robotic water filter that looks like a UFO.

This solar powered beast was designed for the upcoming Aqua Metropolis festival.

The solar powered filtration system puts fresh oxygen into the water and filters out anything harmful.  This robot can go through 2,400 gallons a day.

Of course it lights up at night to look even more like a UFO.

Link via (Pink Tentacle)

Tags: festival, japan, ufo, Water

A team from Cornell University has won the 12th annual Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Competition withe their robot called Nova.  This year’s competition was called Diving Dozen.

The robot had to complete an underwater obstacle course complete with firing torpedoes and recovering a suitcase full of secret documents.  Check out all the rules here (pdf file).

Click through for video highlights from the competition.

Link via (Engadget)
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Tags: cornell