Revolutionizing the Oceans: Advancements in Marine Robotics for Defense, Research, and Industry
Robotics is dedicated to the design and construction of programmable mechanical robots. Its job is to replicate human actions. Development of such robots for marine use are critical for defence, scientific research, and industrial applications, including surveillance, environmental monitoring, and mine countermeasures and much more.
Ships require regular maintenance and a lot of resources, from fuel and oil maintenance to regular cleaning, a large number of parts and equipment need to be serviced or replaced to keep the ship in good condition. Lots of time, all these tasks are dangerous and challenges when carried out by humans. To this end, robots are capable of handling such tasks. For example, HullBUG, an underwater hull cleaning robot, attaches itself to the bottom of the boat for surface cleaning. Another robot, the SAFFIR firefighter robot, is an autonomous humanoid robot capable of detecting and extinguishing fires aboard, working side by side with humans.
Recon Robotics have developed a small dumbbell-shaped robot with an ability to penetrate the main deck of a boat for discrete inspection. These developments are currently being used by US Navy. Cameras on robot allow operators to see what’s happening in real-time, even at night, with the use of infrared sensors.
Marine Autonomous Robotic Systems
Autonomous Underwater Vehicles– In Short, AUVs, are robotic vehicles that can be used for underwater survey missions such as mapping submerged wrecks, seafloor mapping, and seawater characterization. It conducts surveys without operator intervention, they are programmable and returns back to a pre-programmed location where data can be downloaded and processes
Autonomous Surface Vehicles– In short, ASVs are robotic vehicles that sit on the sea surface gathering oceanographic data. They have a larger payload and battery capacity compared to gliders. They carry GPS and Iridium modules with them and through that communications and piloting are carried out. They are useful for gathering photographic monitoring and weather information. They are considered the future harvesters of data, where ASV will collect data from underwater vehicles and relay it over Iridium
Remotely operated vehicle– In short, ROVs, are tethered underwater robots that are unmanned, linked to the ship by a group of cables carrying electrical power, video and data signals between the vehicle and operator
ISIS is the UK’s deepest diving ROV. It collects samples, drills sediment cores, and captures high-definition video, making possible to carry out intricate surveys at depths unreachable by human divers
Gliders– A type of underwater vehicle used for measuring oceanographic parameters such as temperature, chlorophyll levels, and salinity, then transmitted back to the shore. It uses an internal pump to change its buoyancy, enabling it to move up and down in the water. They are 2 meters in length, and weigh around 65 kg, and travel at a speed of nearly 0.5 km per hour. They are energy efficient and can run on conventional alkaline batteries on small missions. They do not require to be deployed from the deck of a research ship, making glider missions relatively cheap. It has the capability of sending real-time data through its sensor
Future trends
C-Bot Project– Climate change has created an urgent need to develop systems to monitor, detect and predict these changes in local phenomena in a timely fashion. Coral reef monitoring is considered a reliable predictor of climate change as they are sensitive to small changes in temperature.
Towards this end, the Coral Bot (C-bot) project is to build a robot to monitor coral reefs in shallow waters. It will replace the present-day method of employing a diver with camera equipment to survey coral reef beds
Mesobot Project– Development of an autonomous underwater robot, Mesobot, is being built with the new capability of capturing the unique and abundant life in the “twilight zone,” extending from 200 m to 1000 m depth. It may harbour more fish biomass compared to all fisheries worldwide
Initially, Mesobot will be tethered, allowing human pilots to identify targets and afterwards, as they migrate deeper into the ocean, it will follow them autonomously, with the use of stereo cameras
Conclusion
Marine robotics is able to assist in tasks associated with danger to human lives and exploring places where human intervention is either expensive or nearly impossible. The major driver of growth in this market is its application in defence, industrial and scientific research. There are a large number of on-going projects in marine robotics developing better technologies to capture the uncharted territory of the oceans. Projects aim to solve industrial challenges and provide better tools for safety and science to explore and study the oceans
Navigation in unconfined environments beyond the range of acoustic transponders remains one of the major milestone problems to be solved.
Author: Abhishek Saini