Tracking Sharks With Robots
Scientists have tracked sharks using robots for decades. But a new approach allows them to do this while following the animal. The system was designed by biologists from Mote Marine Laboratory, and engineers from Harvey Mudd College using components that were readily available.
It can resist a pull-off force of that is 340 times stronger than its own weight. It is also able to detect and adjust its route depending on the changing conditions of the home.
Autonomous Underwater Vehicles
Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are robots that are programmable and depending on their design they can drift, move or glide across the ocean with no real-time supervision from human operators. They are equipped with a range of sensors that record water parameters and explore and map the ocean's geological features, seafloor communities and habitats and much more.
They are controlled by a surface ship with Wi-Fi or acoustic connections for sending data back to the operator. The AUVS is able to collect spatial or temporal data and can be deployed as a large team to cover more terrain more quickly than a single vehicle.
Similar to their land counterparts, AUVs can navigate using GPS and the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) to determine where they are in the world and how far they've traveled from their beginning point. This information, in conjunction with sensors for the environment that send information to computers onboard, allows AUVs follow their planned trajectory without losing sight of their destination.
When a research mission is complete when the research mission is completed, the AUV will sink to the surface and then be recovered on the research vessel it was launched from. A resident AUV can be submerged for months and perform regular inspections pre-programmed. In either scenario the AUV will periodically surface to communicate its location using the GPS signal or acoustic beacon, which are then transmitted to the surface ship.
Certain AUVs communicate with their operator on a continuous basis via satellite links on the research ship. This allows scientists to continue to conduct experiments from their ship even when the AUV is off collecting data under water. Other AUVs can communicate with their operators only at certain times, such as when they have to refill their tanks or monitor the health of their sensor systems.
Free Think claims that AUVs are not only used to collect data from oceanography but also to search underwater resources, such as gas and minerals. They can also be utilized as part of an environmental disaster response plan to aid in search and rescue operations following tsunamis or oil spills. They can also be used to monitor volcanic activity in subsurface areas and to monitor the health of marine life, including coral reefs and whale populations.
Curious Robots
Contrary to traditional undersea robotics, which have been programmed to search only for one specific feature on the ocean floor, these curious underwater robots are built so that they can look around and adapt to changes in the environment. This is important because the conditions beneath the waves can be unpredictable. For instance, if the water suddenly warms up, it could change the behavior of marine animals or even cause an oil spill. Robots with a keen eye can detect the changes swiftly and efficiently.
One team of researchers is developing an innovative
robotic shark platform that utilizes reinforcement learning to teach the robot to be curious about its surroundings. The robot, which resembles a child in yellow clothing with a green hand can be taught to recognize patterns which could indicate an interesting discovery. It also can make decisions about what it should do next depending on the results of its previous actions. The results of the research could be used to develop an autonomous robot capable of learning and adapting itself to the changing environment.
Scientists are also using robots to investigate areas that are dangerous for humans to dive. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute's (WHOI), for example has a robot named WARP-AUV which is used to search for shipwrecks and locate them. The robot can recognize creatures living in reefs, and can distinguish semi-transparent jellyfish and fish from their dark backgrounds.
This is a remarkable feat considering that it takes years for a human brain to perform this task. The WARP-AUV's brain is trained by feeding it thousands of images of marine life, making it able to identify familiar species on its first dive. In addition to its abilities as a marine detective, the WARP-AUV can send topside supervisors real-time images of underwater scenery and sea creatures.
Other teams are working on robots that learn with the same curiosity that humans do. A team at the University of Washington’s Paul G. Allen school of Computer Science & Engineering, for instance, is examining how robots can be taught to be curious about their surroundings. This team is part of a three-year project by Honda Research Institute USA to create machines that are curious.
Remote Missions
A myriad of uncertainties could result in a mission failure. Scientists aren't certain of what time the mission will take, how well parts of the spacecraft work, or if other forces or objects could disrupt the spacecraft's operations. The Remote Agent software is designed to eliminate these uncertainties. It will be able to perform a variety of the difficult tasks that ground personnel would do if they were on DS1 at the time of the mission.
The Remote Agent software system includes a planner/scheduler, executive model-based reasoning algorithm, and a. The planner/scheduler creates a set of time-based, event-based activities called tokens. These are then delivered to the executive. The executive decides how to use the tokens in an array of commands which are sent directly to spacecraft.
During the test, during the test, a DS1 crewmember will be on hand to monitor the progress of the Remote Agent and deal with any problems outside the scope of the test. All regional bureaus must follow Department records management guidelines and maintain all documentation pertaining to establishing a remote mission.
SharkCam by REMUS
Researchers have no idea of the activities of sharks beneath the surface. However, scientists using an autonomous underwater vehicle known as REMUS SharkCam are beginning to pierce that blue barrier, and the results are both amazing and terrifying.
The SharkCam team is a group of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, took the torpedo-shaped SharkCam to Guadalupe Island last year to track and film great white sharks in their natural habitat. The 13 hours of video footage, combined with visuals from acoustic tag tags attached to sharks, reveal many aspects of the underwater behavior of these predators.
The REMUS SharkCam, developed in Pocasset, MA by Hydroid, is designed to follow the exact location of a animal that is tagged without disrupting its behavior or causing alarm. It utilizes an ultra-short navigation system that determines the range, bearing, and depth of the animal. Then it focuses on the
shark lidar robot at a specified distance and position (left or right, above or below,) and records its swimming and interaction with its surroundings. It communicates with scientists at the surface every 20 seconds, and can accept commands to change its speed or depth, as well as standoff distance.
State
robotic shark scientist Greg Skomal, WHOI engineer Amy Kukulya, Pelagios-Kakunja
shark self empty robot vacuum researcher Edgar Mauricio Hoyos-Padilla of Mexico's Marine Conservation Society and REMUS SharkCam software developer Roger Stokey first envisioned tracking and filming great whites with the self-propelled torpedo they called REMUS SharkCam they were worried that it could disrupt the sharks' movements and could make them flee the area they were studying. Skomal, along with his colleagues, reported in a recent article published in the Journal of Fish Biology that the SharkCam was able to survive nine bumps and a biting attack from great whites weighing several thousand pounds over a week of research near the coast of Guadalupe.
Researchers interpreted the interactions of sharks and REMUS SharkCam (which had been tracking four sharks tagged) as predatory behavior. Researchers recorded 30 shark interactions including simple bumps and nine bites with a ferocious force.
