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Community News for February, 2010
New Lithium Ion Battery Cells being Tested on Solar Catamaran
February 28, 2010 — via Clean Technology
Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft GmbH (HDW), a company of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, is testing innovative lithium ion battery cells on board the solar catamaran “PlanetSolar®”. The boat is financed by the German entrepreneur and solar pioneer Immo Ströher. In close cooperation with Knierim Yachtbau GmbH, the shipyard that built the catamaran and the battery manufacturer GAIA Akkumulatorenwerke GmbH HDW will now enter the final development phase for a new generation of energy storage systems that is designed for future use on non-nuclear submarines.
Remotely Piloted Underwater Glider Crosses the Atlantic
February 27, 2010 — via IEEE Spectrum MARCH 2010
Rutgers University's underwater vehicle successfully navigates an ocean
About 48 kilometers off the eastern coast of the United States, scientists from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, peered over the side of a small research vessel, the Arabella. They had just launched RU27, a 2-meter-long oceanographic probe shaped like a torpedo with wings. Although it sported a bright yellow paint job for good visibility, it was unclear whether anyone would ever see this underwater robot again. Its mission, simply put, was to cross the Atlantic before its batteries gave out.
Norway. Roald Amundsen 'Lost in the Arctic' documentary debuts in Oslo
February 26, 2010 — via BYM Marine & Maritime News
Kongsberg Maritime's HUGIN AUV is featured in an intriguing new documentary, which investigates the disappearance of Roald Amundsen and his 'Latham 47' sea-plane in the Barents Sea during a rescue mission in 1928. 'Roald Amundsen - Lost in the Arctic', is to have its first screening this Saturday (27th Feb 2010), in Oslo, Norway.
The new film sees polar explorer Liv Arnesen and Per Arvid Tellemann, a former navy navigator and member of a commission that investigated Amundsen's untimely death uncover the mystery on land, whilst the Norwegian Navy, aboard its vessel KNM Tyr, searches for the wreckage of Amundsen's plane using a Kongsberg Maritime HUGIN 1000 AUV and HISAS 1030 synthetic aperture sonar.
Hudson Canyon Gives Up Secrets
February 26, 2010 — via NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center
Using an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) called Eagle Ray, researchers from NOAA’s Fisheries Service, Rutgers University and the National Institute for Undersea Science and Technology (NIUST) have produced high resolution sonar maps of the canyon bottom. The maps provide details that other equipment such as sonar mounted on a ship’s hull cannot detect, and will be used to direct visual searches for the various bottom features during subsequent work in the area this summer.
Silicon-coated Nanonets Could Build a Better Lithium-ion Battery
February 25, 2010 — via Boston College
A tiny scaffold-like titanium structure of Nanonets coated with silicon particles could pave the way for faster, lighter and longer-lasting Lithium-ion batteries, according to a team of Boston College chemists who developed the new anode material using nanotechnology.
Detect and destroy
February 25, 2010 — via Defence Management
In waters where ships cannot operate, normally in approaching a beach or in harbours, the Royal Navy relies on divers and, more recently, Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUV). Already these systems are demonstrating that they can operate in areas where minehunters cannot go, as well as survey areas, more swiftly. Today they are used in conjunction with clearance divers who will investigate a contact picked up by the UUV and, if required, destroy it.
Shifting Sailors’ Workload to Robots Still Wishful Thinking
February 25, 2010 — via Military Technology
It’s the $64,000 question that Navy officials want answered: How many people does it take to operate an unmanned system? The answer is important to the sea service because it is acquiring fleets of remotely-operated air, ground and maritime vehicles that will deploy from ships and collaborate on missions in the near-shore, coastal waterway and seaport environments in the coming years. Unmanned vehicles are manpower-intensive technologies that require human control and monitoring often on a one-to-one basis. It typically takes two people — a pilot and a sensor operator — to fly and operate an unmanned aircraft from a ground control station.
Indian AUV's trial to be conducted again in Kerala
February 25, 2010 — via Manorama Online
After the successful preliminary trial of the indigenously developed Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) in a Kerala reservoir, the Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute is expected to carry out another round of experiment in the same lake this year.
Ocean robot 'plans experiments'
February 24, 2010 — via BBC News
Scientists in the US are using an underwater vehicle that can "plan its own experiments" on the seafloor. The "Gulper AUV" is programmed to look for the information that scientists want and plan its own route, avoiding hazardous currents and obstacles.
Hydroid’s Recce UUV to increase Royal Navy’s mine-countermeasure capabilities
February 24, 2010 — via Defence Professionals
The UK Ministry of Defence announced yesterday that the Royal Navy officially introduced into service its newest submersible asset to improve its mine countermeasure (MCM) capabilities: the ‘Recce’ unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV). The UUV, manufactured by US-based Hydroid, Inc and based upon the REMUS 600 autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), successfully completed trials at the end of last year and has now been handed over to the Royal Navy's Unmanned Underwater Vehicle Unit.
Optical system promises to revolutionize undersea communications
February 23, 2010 — via Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute
In a technological advance that its developers are likening to the cell phone and wireless Internet access, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) scientists and engineers have devised an undersea optical communications system that—complemented by acoustics—enables a virtual revolution in high-speed undersea data collection and transmission.
Along with the “transfer [of] real-time video from un-tethered [submerged] vehicles” up to support vessels on the surface, “this combination of capabilities will make it possible to operate self-powered ROVs [remotely operate vehicles] from surface vessels without requiring a physical connection to the ROV,” says WHOI Senior Engineer Norman E. Farr, who led the research team. This will not only represent a significant technological step forward, but also promises to reduce costs and simplify operations, they say.
UK Navy's new mine hunter enters service
February 23, 2010 — via Defence News
To tackle the abundant and significant threat of sea mines, the Royal Navy's new unmanned, underwater 'robots' have entered service following successful trials at the end of last year.
A Robot Starts to Make Decisions on its Own
February 22, 2010 — via WHOI
Scientists give more autonomy to autonomous underwater vehicles
HUGIN 1000 Portable AUV System Demonstrated in Korea
February 22, 2010 — via Kongsberg Maritime
The HUGIN 1000 Portable AUV System has been demonstrated in Korean waters. The operation was carried out by KONGSBERG's AUV Department in close cooperation with the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) in the Republic of Korea (ROK).
A new way to build membranes for fuel cells
February 17, 2010 — via MIT
A team of researchers at MIT and Pennsylvania State University has been developing a new method for producing novel kinds of membranes that could have improved properties for batteries, fuel cells and other energy conversion and storage applications.
Navy’s Acquisition Methods Slow Down Deployment of Undersea Robots
February 16, 2010 — via National Defense Magazine
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead in recent months has directed Navy planners to boost funding and to speed up the design and production of unmanned systems. But he cautioned against pouring money into technological pipedreams that the Navy can’t afford. His pitch is backed by recommendations of the Naval War College’s strategic studies group, which concluded that the Navy needs to do a better job equipping ships at sea with robotic systems to help automate tasks currently done by sailors, and to improve ships’ capabilities to detect mines and other threats.
Autonomous Underwater Vehicle A wireless robotic sea-vehicle that can map the seafloor.
February 15, 2010 — via Technology Review India
Researchers at Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CMERI) - the apex R&D institute for mechanical engineering under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) – have developed India’s first indigenous autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). The robotic vehicle is expected to complete the final sea trial by August 2010. The mega system can fulfill tasks such as seafloor mapping, coastal surveillance, mine countermeasure, and oceanographic measurements during adverse weather conditions.
SAUVIM robot completed its first fully autonomous mission
February 13, 2010 — via Rob Aid
The Autonomous Manipulation system, unlike teleoperated manipulation systems that are controlled by human operators with the aid of visual and other sensory feedback, must be capable of assessing a situation, including self-calibration based on sensory information, and executing or revising a course of manipulating action without continuous human intervention. Autonomous Systems Laboratory of the University of Hawaii and its spin-off company, MASE, Inc., have developed SAUVIM, an underwater robot capable of performing autonomous navigation and manipulation.
'Thinking' robot to explore depths of Arctic waters
February 13, 2010 — via Toronto Star
In March, a small team of Canadian government and industry experts plans to launch the autonomous unmanned vehicle (AUV) from an ice camp north of Borden Island, in the eastern Arctic, more than 4,100 kilometres northwest of Toronto.
The yellow craft will be on a critical mission to map the sea floor, at a depth of some five kilometres, as Canada rushes to compile evidence supporting its claim to a vast northern territory before a 2013 deadline.
Heriot-Watt Oceans Systems Laboratory seeks Research Associate
February 11, 2010 — via Heriot-Watt
We wish to recruit a highly motivated individual as a research associate to join an active team of researchers, starting in February/March 2010, located within Heriot-Watt University in the attractive city of Edinburgh. The contract will initially be for a period of one year renewable to up to 3 years. Applicants should have a PhD or equivalent in a relevant numerate discipline, for example Physics, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Mathematics or Computer Science. An engineering and mathematics background is required.
ITF calls for subsea intervention technology proposals
February 11, 2010 — via Offshore Oil and Gas Magazine
The Industry Technology Facilitator (ITF) is calling for proposals for technological solutions covering subsea power, AUV mission, cost-effective light well intervention, downhole diagnostic tools, high pressure/high temperature technology, and improved artificial lift.
Canada Will Use Robot Subs to Map Arctic Sea Floor, Boost Territorial Claims
February 10, 2010 — via New York Times
Two robot submarines will plunge into the Arctic next month in an effort to help Canada stake a claim to a large swath of potentially mineral-rich seafloor in the polar region.
Data gathered by the yellow torpedo-shaped probes will become part of Canada's bid to prove its continental slope stretches far beyond the 200-nautical-mile territorial limit. The matter will be decided by a U.N. panel overseeing claims under the 28-year-old Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Admiral: UAVs, Other Unmanned Systems Crucial to Navy’s Future
February 4, 2010 — via Government Video
The technology has changed and so has the Navy’s outlook on remote-controlled and automated craft for the air and the water, said Rear Adm. Wendi B. Carpenter, commander at the Navy Warfare Development Command. Speaking at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) Unmanned Systems Program Review Thursday (Feb. 4) in Washington. She described her job as being paid to think about unmanned systems, their future and their integration with information networks. She also described a superior telling her she had to “change the culture” of the Navy.
Electrochem Powers First Transatlantic Crossing of a Robotic Sea-Glider
February 4, 2010 — via Thomas Net
Electrochem's non-rechargeable lithium batteries were chosen to power the data collection features of the RU27, nicknamed the Scarlet Knight for Rutgers' sports teams, due to the product's exceptional performance in extreme temperature environments. The critical data collected during the mission will be provided back to the Navy for validation of ocean forecast models.
CNO on Unmanned systems
February 4, 2010 — via Navy Times
Unmanned at sea. Officials are elated with the recent deployment of the vertical take-off unmanned aerial vehicle, better known as Fire Scout, aboard a ship supporting counter-drug operations. “We’re going to get these systems into where the action is,” Roughead said.
• More power. The Navy continues to expand its future fleet and inventory of unmanned systems that will be used for undersea and surface operations, but one big problem remains: Insufficient power. Roughead said the capability is hampered “if after 24 hours it has to come home.” He implored the crowd heavily represented by communications and electronics companies: “We need power, and we need power quickly.”
Research and development across Atlantic Canada is benefiting from an important federal investment of $62.4 million under Round VII of the Atlantic Innovation Fund (AIF).
February 3, 2010 — via The Government Monitor
Memorial University of Newfoundland, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science (St. John’s) Project: Responsive Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Localization and Mapping (REALM) Memorial’s Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science will integrate sonar and advanced navigation and adaptive mission control systems for its Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV). The new technology will enable the AUV to perform high quality seabed surveys to focus on areas of interest, thereby reducing time, energy, cost, and risk of vehicle loss. This project, with estimated total costs of $4 million, will receive approximately $2.1 million from the Atlantic Innovation Fund over a four-year period.
Integrating wide swath sonar with the portable AUV
February 2, 2010 — via Engineer Live
GeoAcoustics Ltd and Hydroid Inc have been integrating the GeoSwath Plus wide swath sonar with the Remus 100 man-portable AUV.
Quadrennial Defense Review released
February 1, 2010 — via U S Department of Defense
Exploit advantages in subsurface operations. The Navy is increasing funding for the development of an unmanned underwater vehicle that will be capable of a wide range of tasks.