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Tracking Sharks With Robots

Scientists have been tracking 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 has a powerful gripping force that can withstand pull-off forces 340 times its own weight. It also can detect changes in objects and alter its course in line with the changes.

Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are programmable robotic devices that, dependent on their design, can drift, drive or glide through the ocean without any real-time guidance from human operators. They come with sensors that can record water parameters, search and map features of the ocean's geology as well as habitats, and more.

They are controlled by a surface ship by using Wi-Fi or acoustic links to transmit data back to the operator. AUVS can be used to collect temporal or spatial data and can be deployed as a large team to cover a larger area faster than one vehicle.

AUVs can use GPS and a Global Navigation Satellite System to determine their position in the world, and the distance they've traveled from their starting location. This information, in conjunction with sensors for the environment that send data to the computer systems onboard, allow AUVs to follow their route without losing sight of their destination.

Once a research project is completed when the research mission is completed, the AUV will sink to the surface and then be recovered on the research vessel it was launched from. Or an AUV with a resident status can remain underwater and conduct periodic pre-programmed inspections for months at a time. In either case, the AUV will periodically surface to announce its location via the GPS signal or acoustic beacon, which is transmitted to the surface ship.

Some AUVs communicate with their operator constantly via a satellite link on the research vessel. This allows scientists to continue to conduct experiments from the ship even when the AUV is away collecting data under water. Other AUVs can communicate with their operators only at specified times, for instance, when they require fuel or monitor the health of their sensors.

In addition to providing oceanographic information, AUVs can also be used to find underwater resources like natural gas and minerals according to Free Think. They can also be utilized to assist in environmental disaster response and assist with rescue and search operations following tsunamis or oil spills. They can be used to monitor subsurface volcano activity and the conditions of marine life, like whale populations or coral reefs.

Curious Robots

Contrary to conventional underwater robots, which are preprogrammed to only search for a specific feature on the ocean floor, the curious underwater robots are built so they can explore and adapt to changing circumstances. This is important because the conditions beneath the waves can be unpredictable. For instance, if temperature of the water suddenly increases, it could change the behavior of marine creatures or even lead to an oil spill. Robots with a keen eye can detect the changes swiftly and efficiently.

One team of researchers is working on an innovative Robotic Shark platform that uses reinforcement learning to train an animal to be curious about its surroundings. The robot, which looks like the image of a child wearing an orange jacket with a green thumb, can be taught to recognize patterns which could signal a fascinating discovery. It can also be taught to make decisions based on its past actions. The results of this study could be applied to create an intelligent robot capable of learning on its own and adapting to changing environments.

Scientists are also using robots to study areas that are too hazardous for humans to dive. For example, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) has a fascinating robot named WARP-AUV that is used to find and study shipwrecks. This robot can identify reef creatures, and even discern semi-transparent jellyfish and fish from their dark backgrounds.

It takes years of training to learn to do this. The brain of the WARPAUV is trained by exposing it to thousands of images of marine life, which means it can detect familiar species on its first dive. The WARP-AUV is a marine forensics device which can also send live images of sea life and underwater scenery to supervisors on the surface.

Other teams are working on robots that learn by observing the same curiosity humans do. For instance, a team led by the University of 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 initiative by Honda Research Institute USA to develop machines that are curious.

Remote Missions

There are many uncertainties in space missions that can cause mission failure. Scientists aren't certain of what time the mission will take, how well certain parts of the spacecraft work and if any other forces or objects will affect the spacecraft's operation. The Remote Agent software is intended to ease these doubts by doing many of the difficult tasks that ground personnel would carry out if they were present on DS1 during the mission.

The Remote Agent software system includes a planner/scheduler, an executive model-based reasoning algorithm. The planner/scheduler generates a set of time-based, event-based activities known as tokens that are sent to the executive. The executive decides how to transform these tokens into a sequence of commands that are sent directly to the spacecraft.

During the experiment there will be a DS1 crew member will be available to keep track of the progress of the Remote Agent and deal with any issues that are not within the scope of the test. Regional bureaus are required to follow Department records management guidelines and maintain all documentation pertaining to the establishment of a remote mission.

REMUS SharkCam

Researchers aren't aware of the activities of sharks beneath the surface. Scientists are piercing the blue barrier using an autonomous underwater vehicle called the REMUS SharkCam. The results are both amazing and frightening.

The SharkCam team is a group of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, took the torpedo-shaped SharkCam to Guadalupe Island last year to monitor and film great white sharks in their natural habitat. The 13 hours of video footage combined with the images from the acoustic tag attached to the sharks tell us a lot about their behavior underwater.

The REMUS SharkCam built in Pocasset, MA by Hydroid it is designed to track the position of a animal that is tagged without disturbing its behavior or alarming it. It is a ultra-short navigation system to determine the distance, bearing, and depth of the animal. Then, it closes in on the shark robot mop and vacuum at a predetermined distance and in a predetermined position (left or right, above or below,) and captures its swimming and interaction with its surroundings. It communicates with scientists at the surface every 20 seconds, and is able to respond to commands to alter its relative speed, depth, or standoff distance.

When Roger Stokey, REMUS SharkCam creator Roger Stokey, and Edgar Mauricio Hoyos Padilla, Pelagios Kakunja shark self emptying robot vacuum reviews researcher of Mexico's Marine Conservation Society, first thought of tracking great white sharks using the best shark self emptying robot vacuum-propelled REMUS SharkCam torpedo, they worried that the torpedo would interfere with the sharks' movements and may even scare them away. Skomal, along with his colleagues, reported in a recent paper published in the Journal of Fish Biology that the SharkCam survived despite nine bumps and a biting attack from great whites that weighed several thousand pounds over a week of research near the coast of Guadalupe.

Researchers interpreted the interactions of sharks and REMUS SharkCam (which was tracking four sharks tagged) as predatory behavior. They documented 30 shark detect pro self-empty robot vacuum interactions with the robot, including simple approaches, bumps and, on nine occasions, aggressive bites from sharks that appeared to be aiming at REMUS.