sunhou writes "A couple of months ago, researchers tested a solar-powered autonomous underwater vehicle (SAUV) at RPI's Darrin Fresh Water Institute. (More pictures and links to info available at the Autonomous Undersea Systems Institute.) Current autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) need to be taken out of the water often to have their batteries recharged. The goal is to have groups of cooperating SAUVs loaded with sensors and networking equipment deployed on long-term monitoring missions. Watch out Sky-Net, here comes Sea-Net! (See also the recent story about The Argo Project.)"
Just as dolphins and whales need to go to the surface once in a while to breathe, this thing probably can dive deep, but needs to surface every once in a while to recharge.
It's saltwater, odds are snow will melt upon contact anyway. Just dive right below the surface and go into power-conservation mode if you need to get away from the snow.
..the difficulty with radio transmissions. The article mentions networking to transmit the data. If underwater networking was easy, the US Navy wouldn't have used ELF (Extremely Low Frequency) systems to control their submarines.
Erm, they didn't exactly "control" their subs with ELF like a remote control, they used it to send orders to the sub commanders. Usually it was an order to come to periscope depth so a more traditional radio link could be established -- ELF transmissions were extremely slow, somewhere around 50 baud.
IIRC, the sub had to be pretty close to the surface and/or deploy a floating antenna in order to receive the transmissions anyway. This with a transmitter that was what, a megawatt or so? Nowadays supposedly t
It would be economically beneficial to mine the ocean floor. It may be more useful to have mining vehicles transduce heat from their surroundings into electricity. This would give mankind incentive to destroy otherwise prisitine deep sea vents.
"It would be economically beneficial to mine the ocean floor"
Probably not. Countries only have a few hundred miles or so off their coasts that they can rape for resources, which is only a small fraction of the world's oceans. The rest is international waters and international treaty, for the most part, makes it difficult or impossible to harvest resources there. See http://www.luf.org/artisle.html [luf.org] for more info.
No one's saying that it has to remain hundreds of feet below the waves at all times. They could easily program the vehicle to surface, recharge itself via solar energy, and go back down again.
It is still pretty slow. Even at the surface, solar power isn't very efficient in terms of cost or energy conversion, and below water, it takes a LOT of power to move about. Cheaper than replacing batteries manually? I suppose it would be. It would be good for very long term projects, I suppose.
If you are only slightly heavier than the surrounding water, and shaped like a wing, then gliding slowly down to depth is not energy intensive.
When you reach the depth you want, pump the ballast out (or use electrolysis to make gas?) and slowly rise to the surface, again gliding slowly upwards.
With the yo-yo glider technique, you can cover huge areas.
"When you reach the depth you want, pump the ballast out (or use electrolysis to make gas?)"
This was covered on/. before: IIRC, the subs pumped oil into a bladder that increased their volume and made them positively bouyant (and vice versea).
You are correct of course, the temperature difference between the surface and at depth is what OTEC technology is built around. However, I fail to see a good way for a miniature sub to make use of it. OTEC requiers a really, really long pipe extending from the surface to several hundred feet deep and even then doesn't produce much net power).
But then, I don't have a degree in engineering or thermal dynamics, so maybe I'm missing some finer points.:)
All jokes aside about it being dark underwater, this is going to be very helpful for research in large bodies of water. They can put a UAV with sensors and movement devices in say the Pacific and monitor the surface areas for long periods of time without ever needing to go back and "fill 'er up". We'll be able to monitor pollution levels, surface temperatures, ocean currents, all sorts of things much more efficiently.
One thing a lot of people seem to have missed (it helps to RTFA) is that the Naval Undersea Warfare Center [navy.mil] is kicking in dollars for this project. What do you suppose they're monitoring down there?
Anyone else see that as "Solar-Powered Autonomous Underwear Vehicles"? 'cause, at least for me, that's talking about a spot where the sun don't normally shine...
by Anonymous Coward
on Saturday December 11 2004, @11:49PM (#11064349)
So just how long will it be till Columbian drug smugglers use autonmous vehicles to bring over loads of cocaine? Sounds like an easy way for them to get loads through without worrying about people getting busted if they are caught.
Many of the drug dealers probably don't worry about people getting busted, since people are expendable. They worry about losing the drugs, which can still happen with an autonomous vehicle.
Carriage returns are stripped out. Use the html 'br' or 'p' tags ( replace '' with greater-than and less-than signs. I can't type it that way or else I'd get weird breaks in my post!)
All joking aside, the "autonomous" means it isn't getting controlled constantly by people watching the video feedback, which is usually the case.
I've built a few subersibles to do lake-bottom surveys in New England that were basically glorified radio-controlled cars, and from what I understand that's basically how the Titanic-exploring bots worked. There's been some absolutely fascinating talk about building an army of small subs like the ones in this story that can survey automatically, giving us -- fina
Wouldn't it be possible to collect the solar energy at the surgace, and send the energy through a cable down to the AUV? This assumes that they are already controlled by signals sent through cables, however, and I'm not sure if remote controls are used or what, but it seems a bit more effective (as far as I can tell) then collecting light under the sea (as is implied).
Of course, then there is the problem of a shark or other large animal running into the cable (hopefully, if it is remote controlled, it will
I think for long-term underwater exploration, nuclear is the most practical way to go. A nuclear power source can last indefinitely underwater (depending on how much fuel you have) and is not dependent on the weather if and when it does surface.
As a scientist who has used an AUV in the Antarctic, I can assure you we would not want to mess with the bureaucracy/logistics of nuclear power. Some big battery packs and no demands for the vehicle to move fast are all one needs really to collect some very interesting sub-surface data.
Imagine an auv that collects its energy from plankton? It is great idea and I would like to patent it but I think there may be some prior art on this idea.:(
wasn't there supposed to be some technology by now that would harvest energy from the differential in salinity/temperature between different depths of sea water? Or is that on a larger scale than would be practical with a submersible?
Why bother with solar panels and propellers? A buoyancy glider [ucsd.edu] powered from temperature gradients is far more efficient. And you can use it where the sun don't shine, even off-planet [space.com].
I don't see any problem wth it running out of electricity. If it is down too deep to collect any light and is low on energy it could just shift boyancy, go into a low power standby mode, and float to surface.
When it charges back up, kick into full gear and go kick some more deepwater-glow-in-the-dark-space-robot-extreme godzilla ass or whatever...
We must harness the power of THE SUN to defeat deepwater-glow-in-the-dark-space-robot-extreme godzilla!!!!!! Uh, shit, I'm a dumbass...
I can see nerds getting involved in the outdoors once again, bringing a whole new meaning to "phishing" - rigging up Zodiacs with networked fishfinder arrays and catching for themselves the latest in autonomous underwater robot technology.
Hell, I'd steal one.
I could slap Linux on it, make its hostname a Douglas Adams character, and brag on a mailing list somewhere.
Perhaps someone should tell them (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Perhaps someone should tell them (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re:Perhaps someone should tell them (Score:1)
Re:Perhaps someone should tell them (Score:2)
Re:Perhaps someone should tell them (Score:2)
but that's the kind of thing one would know if you were during the fall at anywhere where it snows.
well... (Score:1)
Not to mention... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Not to mention... (Score:2)
Re:Not to mention... (Score:2)
IIRC, the sub had to be pretty close to the surface and/or deploy a floating antenna in order to receive the transmissions anyway. This with a transmitter that was what, a megawatt or so? Nowadays supposedly t
Re:Perhaps someone should tell them (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Perhaps someone should tell them (Score:2)
Probably not. Countries only have a few hundred miles or so off their coasts that they can rape for resources, which is only a small fraction of the world's oceans. The rest is international waters and international treaty, for the most part, makes it difficult or impossible to harvest resources there. See http://www.luf.org/artisle.html [luf.org] for more info.
Re:Perhaps someone should tell them (Score:2)
There missions must not go very deep. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:There missions must not go very deep. (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:There missions must not go very deep. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:There missions must not go very deep. (Score:3, Informative)
When you reach the depth you want, pump the ballast out (or use electrolysis to make gas?) and slowly rise to the surface, again gliding slowly upwards.
With the yo-yo glider technique, you can cover huge areas.
Re:There missions must not go very deep. (Score:2)
Re:There missions must not go very deep. (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:There missions must not go very deep. (Score:2)
But then, I don't have a degree in engineering or thermal dynamics, so maybe I'm missing some finer points.
Re:There missions must not go very deep. (Score:2)
You know, just in case.
All jokes aside (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:All jokes aside (Score:2)
Re:All jokes aside (Score:2)
But the Vehicle used by the NUWC people is a REMUS [whoi.edu], from th Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) [whoi.edu], which does all sorts of oceanographic monitoring.
Re:All jokes aside (Score:4, Funny)
(Mod -3 off-topic, overrated, troll)
Parent
How can I misread one stupid word? (Score:2, Funny)
Drug Smugglers (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Drug Smugglers (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Drug Smugglers (Score:2)
Re:Drug Smugglers (Score:2)
Another way is via thermal signature. Subs with those nice, hot, nuclear reactors tend to leave a trail of slightly warmer water.
Re:Drug Smugglers (Score:2)
Re:Drug Smugglers (Score:2)
Re:Drug Smugglers (Score:2)
Re:Drug Smugglers (Score:2)
-Your Friends to the South
Autonomous? (Score:4, Funny)
Well, then they're not exactly autonomous, are they?
Re:Autonomous? (Score:2, Interesting)
I've built a few subersibles to do lake-bottom surveys in New England that were basically glorified radio-controlled cars, and from what I understand that's basically how the Titanic-exploring bots worked. There's been some absolutely fascinating talk about building an army of small subs like the ones in this story that can survey automatically, giving us -- fina
Re:Autonomous? (Score:2)
Wouldn't that be a SPUV ?
Delivery vehicles (Score:2, Interesting)
Of course, then there is the problem of a shark or other large animal running into the cable (hopefully, if it is remote controlled, it will
Re:Delivery vehicles (Score:1)
Not to mention, wires are just a bad idea.
ME:
Put your money where your mouth is and unplug your computer
Nuclear Energy! (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Nuclear Energy! (Score:2, Insightful)
The really cool auv (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:The really cool auv (Score:1)
Uh-oh (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Uh-oh (Score:2)
i think i know why it's autonomous (Score:1)
so YES, they ARE (or might be) autonomous...
buoyancy power! (Score:5, Interesting)
(null) (Score:1)
When it charges back up, kick into full gear and go kick some more deepwater-glow-in-the-dark-space-robot-extreme godzilla ass or whatever...
We must harness the power of THE SUN to defeat deepwater-glow-in-the-dark-space-robot-extreme godzilla!!!!!! Uh, shit, I'm a dumbass...
Anyhow, that seems to mak
Catching these (Score:4, Funny)
I can see nerds getting involved in the outdoors once again, bringing a whole new meaning to "phishing" - rigging up Zodiacs with networked fishfinder arrays and catching for themselves the latest in autonomous underwater robot technology.
Hell, I'd steal one.
I could slap Linux on it, make its hostname a Douglas Adams character, and brag on a mailing list somewhere.
Shh.. (Score:2, Funny)
alternative to solar.. uh... water power? (Score:2, Interesting)