So how can our dreams take us into the deep, dark void of Earth’s watery abode? Well, we begin with the high school physics classroom. In the picture shown above, we have a modern underwater robot created from resources which are available to every person who has $150 dollars to spare. In fact, the most expensive components are the CCTV and camera.
The high school student only needs to understand some key concepts with respect to underwater robotics. These concepts may include neutral buoyancy, basic circuitry, three dimensional maneuverability, etc. The best part is that every single one of these concepts can be related to a teaching standard at the state and federal levels and can be taught using any number teaching strategies and learning styles.Although this model is made for operating in a pool, it’s important to understand that it only takes a little knowledge and insight to nudge a student in the right direction towards wanting to build something a little more complicated.
So why the recent popularity in submersible robotics? What kind of technology was needed to make robotics useful in lieu of manned underwater craft? For starters, sending people down in submersibles is both a complicated and risky business. There are several environmental factors which need to be taken into account such as pressure and temperature. Most of the complexities stem from trying to keep passengers alive within these environments which range in values of pressure in the 10’s of tons per square inch!
So what if one were able to explore the bottom of the ocean from the comfort of an easy chair? In the future, engineers dreamt of a technology which would enable a user to remotely connect to a submersible and explore these dangerous environments without incurring any of the risks on themselves. Well, the future is now and the latest research and developed networking technologies have been applied to submersible robots.
Leading the way, government agencies such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as well as energy corporations such as BP and Exxon-Mobil have integrated the technologies into their operations as soon as they were rendered plausible by their engineers and scientists. NOAA uses submersible robots to explore areas of the hydrosphere which are not worth the human risk of exploration while BP and Exxon-Mobil utilize submersibles to build and maintain pipelines and well-heads.
During the most recent oil catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico, the Deep Horizon Spill, remotely controlled submersibles were used to repair the broken well-head which caused the spill because they were able to “withstand the 5000 lbs of pressure, lift a ton, and provide hydraulic power to other pieces of equipment.” The key component which made this technology useful was its ability to transmit back 3D video images to the repair team working safely out of harms way at the surface. These submersible robots are sometimes referred to submersible remotely-operated-vehicles (ROV’s).
Some corporations are starting to research the use of submersible robots for laying oil pipelines and optics cables. For example, the SMD Ultra Trencher 1, a $20 million robot which weighs 50 tons and digs underwater trenches up to 1500 meters below the surface provides just the right kind of tool for the job in such necessary industries. Robots such as these are capable of revolutionizing the way energy and information is distributed on a global scale.
On the near horizon or maybe even now, the usage of unmanned water vehicles (UWV’s) has been in the works for both government and private sectors alike. They are able to travel great distances while collecting data remotely without the need for any human support network nearby. As for remote power sources (since these submersibles are not attached to a cable), models which utilize photo-electric solar panel technology have made it through the prototype phase; however, the usage of small nuclear reactors has been researched through paper studies. Below is an example of a UWV:
Continuing with the idea of sustainability, another development in submersible robots that has been making headlines is taking place at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) are those which can capture energy from their watery surroundings to be used to power the robot itself. Based on the principles of thermal expansion, the underwater “gliders” are able to travel great distances for extended periods of times - up to two years versus the limit of a few months on comparable machines - with virtually no input. They can be considered like hybrids, as they do run on some battery power to operate steering and on-board electronics - like the Toyota Prius of submersibles.
From the article:
"They can be very helpful in getting measurements that would be too expensive to get otherwise — any kind of study that requires long-term measurements from multiple locations," Hodges told LiveScience. "If you had to be there in a ship, it would cost millions of dollars."
One of the most famous submersibles has to be Alvin and its accompanying ROV Jason Jr., employed by Dr. Robert Ballard in 1986 on some of the first explorations of the wreckage of Titanic. This helped demonstrated the usefulness of robots in hostile environments like what is found at ocean depths of 5,000 feet and temperatures of near zero Celsius. This paved the way for backing of research into more submersible robotics, but also for new adventures for Alvin. BBC reports that it recently underwent upgrades to allow close research of the efforts to solve the DeepWater Horizon catastrophe. Upgrades include the ability to go deeper and stay down longer - down to 6,500m. “When we go down to 6,500m, we will have access to 98% of the ocean. That will make a huge difference - there is so much more to see down there.”
Marine biologists at Monterrey Bay in California have recently been utilizing robots which can follow organisms in ocean environments. As oceans are extremely dynamic ecosystems, having a way to track and record data over long period of time continuously is something that hasn’t been possible until now. These robots have already been following algal blooms, which offer valuable information regarding the future of ocean chemistry and global warming.
Posted by Torrey Dupras & Nolan Jensen
Sources:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37913126/ns/disaster_in_the_gulf/
http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/22/smd-ultra-trencher-1-starts-its-new-job-laying-pipes-and-cables/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11938904
http://www.livescience.com/2277-submersible-robot-runs-sea-heat.html
http://www.nature.com/news/2010/101101/full/news.2010.573.html
This blog post rocks!
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