Tracking Sharks With Robots

Scientists have tracked sharks using robots for years. But a new approach allows them to do this while following the animal. Biologists at Mote Marine Laboratory and engineers at Harvey Mudd College developed the system using components from the shelf.

It is able to withstand a pull-off force 340 times greater than its own weight. It can also sense changes in objects and change its course accordingly.

Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are robotic machines that, according to their design, can drift, drive or glide through the ocean without real-time control from human operators. They are equipped with a variety of sensors to monitor water parameters and explore and map ocean geological features, sea floor habitats and communities and much more.

They are controlled by a surface vessel with Wi-Fi or acoustic connections to transmit data back to the operator. AUVS can be used to collect spatial or temporal data, and are able to be used as a group to cover more ground more quickly than one vehicle.

AUVs can use GPS and the Global Navigation Satellite System to determine their position around the globe and how far they've traveled since their initial location. This positioning information, along with environmental sensors that send data to onboard computers, allows AUVs to follow a planned course without losing sight of their destination.

When a research mission is complete when the research mission is completed, the AUV will be able to float to the surface and then be recovered on the research vessel it was launched from. In contrast an AUV with a resident status could remain in the water and conduct periodic pre-programmed inspections for a period of months. In either case the AUV will periodically surface to transmit its location via an GPS or acoustic signal which is transmitted to the surface vessel.

Certain AUVs communicate with their operator continuously through satellite links to the research ship. This lets scientists continue to conduct experiments from the ship while the AUV is collecting data under water. Other AUVs may communicate with their operators only at specific times, such as when they have to refill their tanks or check the status of their sensor systems.

Free Think states that AUVs are not just used to collect oceanographic data but they can also be used to search for underwater resources, like gas and minerals. They can also be used to respond to environmental disasters, such as tsunamis or oil spills. They can also be used to monitor volcanic activity in subsurface areas and to monitor the health of marine life such as whale populations and coral reefs.

Curious Robots

Contrary to traditional undersea robotics, which are programmed to search only for one specific feature on the ocean floor, these curious underwater robots are designed that they can scan the ocean floor and adjust to changing conditions. This is important, because the conditions below the waves can be unpredictable. If the water suddenly gets hot this could alter the behavior of marine animals, or even result in an oil spill. The robots are designed to quickly and effectively detect these changes.

One group of researchers is developing a new robotic platform that uses reinforcement learning to teach an animal to be curious about its surroundings. The robot, which appears like a child with yellow clothing and a green arm can be taught to recognize patterns that might suggest an interesting discovery. It is also able to make decisions based on the past actions. The findings of this research could be applied to create an intelligent robot capable of self-learning and adapting to changes in its environment.

Scientists are also using robots to investigate parts that are too dangerous for humans to dive into. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute's (WHOI), for example has a robot named WARP-AUV, which is used to search for shipwrecks and locate them. This robot is able recognize reef creatures and discern jellyfish and semi-transparent fish from their dim backgrounds.

It takes years of training to learn to do this. The brain of the WARP-AUV has been conditioned by exposing it to thousands of images of marine life, so it is able to recognize familiar species upon its first dive. The WARP-AUV is a marine forensics device which can also send live images of sea creatures and underwater scenery to supervisors at the surface.

Other teams are working to create robots with the same curiosity as humans. For instance, a group that is led by the University Washington's Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering is looking for ways to train robots to be curious about their surroundings. This team is part of a three-year program by Honda Research Institute USA to create machines that are curious.

Remote Missions

There are many uncertainties that could lead to an unplanned mission failure. Scientists aren't certain of how long mission events will take, how well parts of the spacecraft will work or if other forces or objects will interfere with the spacecraft's operation. The Remote Agent software is designed to eliminate these uncertainties. It will be able to perform a variety of the complicated tasks that ground control personnel do if they were on DS1 during the mission.

The Remote Agent software system includes a planner/scheduler, an executive model-based reasoning algorithm, and a. The planner/scheduler creates a set activities based on time and events that are referred to as tokens which are then passed to the executive. The executive decides on how to expand the tokens into a series of commands that are transmitted directly to spacecraft.

During the experiment, during the test, a DS1 crewmember will be on hand to observe the progress of the Remote Agent and deal with any issues outside of the scope of the test. All regional bureaus must adhere to Department records management guidelines and maintain all documentation associated with the establishment of a specific remote mission.

SharkCam by Remus

Sharks are mysterious creatures, and researchers know almost nothing about their activities beneath the ocean's surface. Scientists are piercing the blue barrier using an autonomous underwater vehicle named REMUS SharkCam. The results are amazing and frightening.

The SharkCam Team, a group of scientists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution took the SharkCam, a torpedo shaped camera and to Guadalupe Island to track and film white great sharks in their habitat. The 13 hours of video footage, combined with visuals from acoustic tags that are attached to sharks, reveal much about the underwater behavior of these top predators.

The REMUS SharkCam built in Pocasset, MA by Hydroid, is designed to follow the exact location of a tagged animal without affecting its behavior or alarming it. It employs an multidirectional ultra-short baseline navigation device to determine the range, bearing, and depth of the shark, then closes in at a predetermined distance and location (left or right above or below) to capture it swimming and interacting with its environment. It is able to communicate with scientists at the surface every 20 seconds and can respond to commands to change relative speed or depth or standoff distance.

When Roger Stokey, REMUS SharkCam developer Roger Stokey, and Edgar Mauricio Hoyos Padilla, Pelagios Kakunja Shark RV2400WD: 2-in-1 Robot Vacuum And Mop researcher of Mexico's Marine Conservation Society, first imagined tracking great whites using the self-propelled REMUS SharkCam torpedo, they concerned that the torpedo could disrupt the sharks' movement and could even cause them to flee. But in an article recently published in the Journal of Fish Biology, Skomal and his coworkers report that despite nine bumps and bites from great whites that weighed thousands of pounds during the course of a week of research off the coast of Guadalupe the SharkCam survived--and revealed some intriguing new behaviors of the great white Shark EZ Robot Vacuum RV912S WiFi Self-Emptying Base.

The researchers interpreted the sharks interactions with REMUS's SharkCam, a robot that was recording and tracking the activity of four sharks that were tagged, as predatory behavior. They documented 30 shark interactions with the robot, including simple approaches, bumps and, on nine occasions, aggressive bites from sharks that appeared to be aiming at REMUS.