- Companies are making heavy investments in autonomous robots to study uncharted shallow waters.
- Bathymetric LiDAR by Quantum Spatial, penetrates the water and maps the seabed floor.
- The Katfish torpedo is towed behind ships and captures the seafloor up to three centimeters.
- The HydroBall makes crowdsourcing seafloor data accessible and improves existing maps decreasing risks at sea.
A Hydrography conference held at the Delta Hotel in St. John’s last week highlighted the necessity of surveying and mapping of the ocean floor, says a report published in CBC News.
Why is it important?
To seafaring Newfoundlanders, the importance of mapping out coastal areas is well understood. Knowing where shallows are is crucial to avoid grounding ships and endangering life aboard. However, because of this risk, many shallower seas are literally uncharted waters.
Paul Brett, the head of the school of ocean technology at the Marine Institute in St. John’s, was one of the organizers of the conference. He explained that one of the main goals of this new technology is safety. “You could lose a vessel, you could lose people if the ship hits a rock or hits some uncharted areas where there’s a hazard to [navigate],” said Brett.
Lasers as a solution
To deal with the complexities of shallow seas, different creative solutions were showcased at the conference. Dennis Hall, who works with the U.S-based company Quantum Spatial showed off the capabilities of bathymetric LiDAR — the technique of shooting lasers from a plane. “A LiDAR sends laser beams down to the ground, penetrates the water, and maps the seabed floor,” explained Hall.
Other international companies presented autonomous vessels that can collect data independently for days on end, and amphibious “bottom-crawler” robots that can mount instruments or even perform rescue missions.
Brian Carroll from Kraken, a St. John’s-based robotics company, stood in front of a bright yellow torpedo called the Katfish. The probe is meant to be towed behind ships and can capture the seafloor with a resolution of up to three centimeters. “Defense measures, for sure, is one of the big reasons for the high resolution that we need,” explained Carroll.
A.I. and the Hydroball
In a speech, Geneviève Béchard, Canada’s hydrographer general from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), highlighted the government’s investment into artificial intelligence and autonomous vessels but also pointed out the importance of crowdsourcing data from remote locations.
One technology that aims to make crowdsourcing seafloor data accessible to everyday Canadians is the HydroBall by Quebec-based company M2Ocean. This beach ball-sized buoy can be deployed behind recreational vessels, and automatically collects data with little engagement from the vessel operator — and the system has several advantages. One of those is helping to improve existing maps, and therefore decreasing people’s risks at sea.
“Because this technology is so quick to learn and doesn’t have an overhead of requiring a particular crew or particular type of vessel to accommodate it, we’re leveraging the local communities into using their own platforms, their own boats, their canoes, their dories,” said Kevin Wilson, the CEO of M2Ocean.
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Source: CBC News
