Robotic Water Monitors Go Solar

Looking like a floating dance floor, this solar-powered autonomous underwater vehicle (SAUV) might be used to keep tabs on the health of various bodies of water.

Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), which have been around for several decades, operate independent of human direction.  They can be equipped with sensors to search for underwater mines or to monitor water quality in terms of both chemistry and biology. 

Because they run on batteries, though, AUVs have to be removed every so often for recharging.  Solar power could allow these robots to run for years without maintenance.

A recent trial on Lake George, NY, tested two SAUVs and one battery-operated vehicle.  The three crafts successfully coordinated their movements with wireless communications. 

"Once fully realized, this technology will allow better monitoring of complex environmental systems, including the Hudson River," said Art Sanderson, engineering professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

-- LiveScience Staff

Credit: Art Sanderson and D. Richard Blidberg (Autonomous Undersea Systems Institute)