What impact do micro underwater robots have on ocean exploration?

The depths of the Earth's oceans remain one of the planet's last frontiers for exploration, harboring important resources and critical ecosystems. Traditionally, two types of unmanned submersibles have been used to explore the deep sea: remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), which are connected to surface vessels via a control tether and operated by a pilot on board; and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), which have no tethers and can travel underwater without operator intervention. Both are promising tools to help humanity collect underwater data and transform sectors including marine research, offshore industries, environmental protection, and even defense.

As the need to understand the ocean becomes more urgent due to climate change, collecting data using remotely operated and autonomous underwater vehicles (ROVs) presents unique challenges. They are expensive to build and maintain, and often require a large number of specialized personnel to deploy and retrieve. Their large size also presents challenges for flexibility and maneuverability during missions. Specifically, ROVs are limited by the length of their tethers and require constant human supervision, limiting the frequency and scale of data collection and exploration.

Represents a paradigm shift

Spotting this gap in the market, we developed Hydrus, a fully autonomous underwater vehicle that miniaturized multiple technologies to provide a similar experience to underwater users. This introduced the concept of micro autonomous submersibles to the market.

Hydrus is transforming seafloor research, inspection, detection and classification by making data acquisition simple and easy. Weighing less than 7 kg, it is virtually an all-in-one (untethered) autonomous solution that is ready to use right out of the box. It can be launched and recovered by one person, reducing the need for expensive survey vessels, boats, trained operators and divers. Its compact nature means simpler logistics, minimal complexity and reduced operating costs. This is a critical attribute, considering that the rate of change in the ocean is accelerating and more knowledge is needed to help humans analyze the state of the ocean.

Open Ocean Access

Given the harsh underwater environment, Hydrus is equipped with advanced sonar, navigation and communication systems. This allows it to navigate completely autonomously without a tether, taking advantage of objects and avoidance to adjust the mission in real time. It is equipped with a 4K 60 FPS camera with powerful lighting to ensure the highest quality and photography. Through an image processing system, it can dynamically balance camera settings and lighting to compensate for turbidity. In full turbidity environments where the camera cannot be used, Hydrus can still use its sonar for mapping. Hydrus also allows 3D missions to be planned in minutes without specific knowledge or training.

Hydrus demonstrated this capability in a collaboration with the Australian Institute of Marine Science (MS) at a tropical marine test site off the northeast coast of Australia called ReefWks. The task was to autonomously map a predefined area of ​​the seafloor in search of specific points of interest – in this case, hidden objects designed to represent underwater mines.

Normally, such exercises would require significant expense and logistical complexity. This problem is exacerbated by the potential dangers posed by the difficult tropical waters in which the Hydra must operate. This mirrors a real-world search in a dangerous and unfamiliar environment.

Fortunately, the Hydrus was purpose-built to address these issues. Its compact size and autonomous capabilities allow it to accomplish its mission quickly and effortlessly. It was also designed with challenging waters in mind, making the entire package resilient to suspended sediments and complex currents.

During the mission, Hydrus autonomously followed a predefined search pattern within a set perimeter in the water. While executing the search pattern, its camera successfully identified points of interest and captured images of the target objects.

From deploying to recovering Hydrus, the entire process took less than 30 minutes. The quick turnaround time allowed the team to run two more simulations. By repeating the simulations, the team observed that the position of the mine-like object on the seafloor changed between each operation. This not only highlighted the complex currents in tropical waters, but also the potential safety risks if the operation was only conducted once, which is typically expected with traditional systems.

Looking ahead

A decade ago, underwater surveying and data collection were strictly the domain of highly trained experts using complex and expensive tools.

The rise of micro underwater robots is paving the way for a more efficient ocean economy.

With reduced costs, simplified logistics and powerful capabilities, miniature autonomous submersibles are making ocean data more accessible to the global community and expanding ocean exploration, bringing far-reaching benefits to science, the environment and society at large.

Reviewing Editor: Huang Fei