Key Highlights
- The ship of NOAA launched on May 14th, 2021. It includes a technology demonstration of Orpheus, an autonomous underwater vehicle.
- 80% of the ocean is not explored. Robotics help researchers go deep into the ocean.
- One of the robots, Scarlet Knight, is an eight-foot glider. It collects data on ocean circulation, heat quality, and heat transport across the Atlantic
Orpheus the upcoming technology in ocean
The ship of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was launched on May 14th, 2021. The NOAA ship Okeanos Explorer will set sail from Port Canaveral, Florida, on a two-week expedition. It will include a technology demonstration of an autonomous underwater vehicle called Orpheus. It is vision-based navigation is called Visual-inertial odometry, or xVIO. It works by combining a system of specialized cameras and pattern-matching software with instruments that can precisely determine its orientation and motion.
Scope of robot in ocean
Our planet is dominated by oceans. They take up two-thirds of the area. Chemical oceanographers have a difficult task ahead of them. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, the oceans are so large that 80 percent of them have yet to be explored. Scientists are learning more about processes above and below the surface that influence our atmosphere, food supply, and more thanks to robots in the ocean. They’re also assisting chemical oceanographers in better understanding and recording the impacts of climate change on our oceans. The capabilities of these robots are still expanding, and they’re teaching new things about how the oceans function and change. Robots have also helped to understand how the ocean absorbs heat in a warming world. And discovered that climate change makes saltier parts of the ocean saltier.
Benefits of robots in underwater
- It aims to provide more information on how climate change is influencing the ocean.
- Ocean robotics help to learn about the life that exists within these vertical layers of water and its effects on the ocean.
- Microbial life is difficult to research and as a result, it is poorly understood. Underwater robots could make the process more efficient and cost-effective.
- Metallic nodules that can yield cobalt, manganese, nickel and rare earth minerals can be found on the ocean’s floor. The demand for these metals is strong. Many companies are employing robots to target high-value mining operations.
Growth of ocean robots
Oceanography is seeing an increase in autonomous systems. The seminal Argo float network, which consists of 4,000 passively drifting floats fitted with sensors. It has distributed over two million temperature and salinity profiles across the world’s oceans over the last two decades. With several study cruises canceled or postponed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Oceanographers will rely on these robotic eyes in oceans. AutoNaut, a wave-powered, robotic surface vehicle capable of transporting and releasing an ocean glider, is a robot that can deploy a robot. with the entire device deployable from the shore by as few as two people. In the future, the lower maintenance costs and personnel requirements would lead to an increase in the use of such observational systems. Scarlet Knight, one of the robots, is an eight-foot glider. There is no engine to propel this glider forward. It travels 4,600 miles by relying on ocean currents and performing 10,000 dives and ascents. The researchers were able to gather information on ocean circulation, heat quality, and how heat travels through the Atlantic.
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