Tuesday, October 4, 2016

AUTONOMOUS SAILING VESSELS STUDY WHALES, FISH , AND SEALS

Robot Sailboats Scour the Oceans for Data American Admiralty Books Safety & Privacy Policies   EU VISITORS WARNING POSSIBLE COOKIES AHEAD

LINK TO NOAA POST, Photo NOAA

NOAA and others are now using remotely controlled and autonomous drone sailing vessels to study a variety of ocean phenomena. These unmanned "drone" sailing vessels have virtually unlimited on scene endurance. They also have the ability to move between study cites; and compared to even very small manned research vessels are relatively inexpensive.  Moreover, when unmanned, with the weather deck sealed over, size is no longer a decisive factor in seaworthiness. Like a fisherman's float or "cork" small drone sailing vessels when properly ballasted can withstand even hurricane sea forces.  LINK TO NOAA POST

 We present here a number of links to recent web posts on the use of such drone sailing vessels in oceanographic research. We feel the subject is worth following because these sailing drones should provide a lot of low cost utility in a variety of other missions. Naval intelligence comes to mind. Given coatings with radar absorbing qualities, with their tiny size, and camouflage paint schemes these things may be even more stealthy than submarines for near coastal intelligence gathering and surveillance missions. Remotely controlled from larger manned naval combatants at "stand off" range they could even be armed to play a role in clearing a contested littoral area of small combatant craft. For law enforcement surveillance in remote and freezing places such as the High Arctic these tiny unmanned vessels can sail the smallest open leads. Should one become frozen in it might be easily retrievable by helicopter if available, left frozen in for later retrieval if it survives crushing in the ice flow,  or after all data is remotely down loaded, simply abandoned as the most cost effective solution. Unmanned and small in size means low cost. The more uses found for these things the more cost effective production lines become. Check out the links to other posts below. We will duplicate this post in our Naval Interest and Sailing Sections shortly. This evolving technology should be of interest to both our naval professional visitors and sailing enthusiasts.  If such sailing drones are ever more widely adopted there will be a need for operators and programmers who understand small craft sailing. Who would have ever thought that sailing would be a prerequisite skill for a high tech drone operator in the 21st century:

Saildrones Monitor The Bering Sea

"On April 22, 2015 two autonomous surface vehicles equipped with meteorological and oceanographic sensors will be released for the first time in the Bering Sea by NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory" READ THE POST:  


2016-09-06_17-09-07

ROBOT SAILBOATS SCOUR THE OCEANS FOR DATA:
"At least 20 companies are chasing the possibly quixotic dream of a self-driving car in Silicon Valley. But self-sailing boats are already a real business" READ POST 

OTHER LINKS:
http://saildrone.com/

NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE

The Drone That Will Sail Itself Around the World


Back up URLs

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/05/technology/no-sailors-needed-robot-sailboats-scour-the-oceans-for-data.html?_r=0

http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2016/09/29/robot-sailboats-scour-oceans-data/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/arctic/news-story/saildrones-monitor-bering-sea

https://www.wired.com/2014/02/saildrone/

http://www.microtransat.org/

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