(04-06-10) Unmanned underwater vehicles Seaglider navigate the depths autonomously collecting data that scientists use to determine the marine environment conditions. It is a useful tool that has just launched in Galicia, and there is another one submerged in the Gulf of Mexico to monitor the oil spill that is devastating those waters.
A new iRobot Seaglider was launched last Tuesday in Galician waters (Spain), where it will collect data about physical sea conditions (temperature, current speed, salinity, density, oxygen and chlorophyll, etc.).
“The purpose in the long term is to be able to better understand the oceanic system to make predictions about currents and fish behaviours, thus helping the fishing and maritime industry”, explains Des Barton, CSIC researcher, after the launching of the robot near Silleiro Cape in Pontevedra.
The information collected will be transmitted via satellite to scientists of the Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas de Vigo (CSIC) and the University of East Anglia, in UK. A scientist of this British centre will be in charge of driving the robot thanks to an antenna that communicates it with the base on land.
NO NEED OF POWER TO MOVE
The vehicle has no propellers and uses its buoyancy to move. Therefore, it does not need power, just a battery that charges its low-power sensors.
According to Burton, it runs similar to a parachute: “When the pilot (the researcher) sends the instruction, the robot begins to sink. He or she has the control over the vehicle’s density: if it floats it is because its density is less than water density."
It has a system to compress a kind of bladder that changes its volume and allows increasing and decreasing the density of the device. When density increases, it begins to sink. When it reaches a certain depth it can be changed again to go to the surface. While it goes up and down, the robot gets to move horizontally.
The first incursions will be at a depth of 100 meters, although iRobot Seaglider can reach a kilometre deep. To avoid it reaches the sea bottom, it has a sensor that detects it when it is about five meters away.
The robot, which measures two meters in length and weighs 52 kg., will do the work now done by scientists from ships automatically, which will reduce the cost: “It has the same sensors that we have in a ship, but it works alone, so it can make many more observations than a vessel and with much less money,” says Barton.
The robot will carry out all routine work but won’t take water samples. It will indicate which areas are most suitable for biological studies.
The researchers are confident that the results obtained in the Galician coast can be extrapolated to other areas of the Iberian Peninsula. Furthermore, they hoped that in the future, this robot will allow them to improve their forecast on the sea state, detect most productive fishing areas or the drift of polluting spills.
WORKING IN THE GULF OF MEXICO
The Seaglider is also being used as a platform to collect valuable ocean data in an effort to monitor the recent Gulf of Mexico oil spill. iRobot is piloted with Dr. Vernon Asper of the Marine Science Department at the University of Southern Mississippi and Dr. Craig Lee from the University of Washington’s Applied Physics Laboratory.
Seaglider measures temperature, salinity and other ocean properties in 3-D at depths of up to 1,000 meters (3,290 feet). It allows researchers to collect data at depths not easily achieved using traditional surface platforms or other UUVs, and to potentially detect the presence of oil and its movement in affected areas.
Researchers in the Gulf of Mexico have deployed Seaglider to locate and monitor large clouds of dispersed oil droplets believed to be at depths of approximately 700 meters (2,296 feet).
“With Seaglider, we are realizing new and important mission profiles that it can support,” said Joe Dyer, president of iRobot’s Government and Industrial Robots division. “Traditionally, gliders have proven themselves to be very useful tools for researchers and oceanographers to collect ocean data. We are pleased that Seaglider is now playing an important role in the recent Gulf efforts. With this technology, we also see potential for the oil and gas industries to monitor existing lines and to detect new offshore oil sources.”
“It is important to track any hydrocarbons that might remain at depths for extended periods of time,” said Dr. Vernon Asper. “Previous data suggests that there may be some of this material at depths below 700 meters and that it appears to be moving. We are working with iRobot to deploy Seaglider in these locations, and we expect to learn a tremendous amount about the path and ultimate fate of this material.”
More than 120 Seagliders have been delivered to customers worldwide, including the U.S. Navy, government agencies and research organizations. iRobot’s consumer and military robots feature iRobot Aware® robot intelligence systems, proprietary technology incorporating advanced concepts in navigation, mobility, manipulation and artificial intelligence. For more information about iRobot, please visit www.irobot.com
Text: Guadalupe Romero / iRobot
