Canada's Department of National Defence agency is testing a new aquatic robot meant to help locate and protect whales.
The Slocum Diver is a 114-lb. torpedo-shaped vehicle that's five feet long and 8.4 inches in diameter. It can quietly sink into the water to monitor for sounds -- including the high-frequency pitch of whale calls. By deploying the robots, Canadian warships and other craft can mark the positions of whales and avoid them without the whales realizing that they are being tracked.
Historically, the only way to monitor whales was by viewing them from commercial vessels such as whale-watching ships. In search of a better way of keeping tabs on the animals, Canada's defense agency has been testing the Slocum system for about five years. Manufactured by Falmouth, Mass.-based Webb Research Corp., the robot costs about US$50,000, depending on how it's deployed.
The robot doesn't use a propeller; it's "neutrally buoyant," meaning it can remain stationary under water without sinking or floating to the surface, according to James Theriault, lead defense scientist for the project. Theriault works for the Department of National Defence's Research and Development Agency.
To maneuver, the glider is equipped with a rudder and a piston that has water on one side of it and a vacuum on the other; as the piston moves, the Glider rises or falls. It can sink to about 600 feet, surreptitiously monitor whales and alert military or other craft to avoid them. The Slocum Diver relies on battery power that can last for up to one month for its steering system and its communications. It is equipped with Global Position Signaling (GPS) capabilities and runs autonomously once launched.
Onboard is an underwater broadband microphone that can detect sounds up to 40Khz, a frequency range higher than what the unaided human ear can perceive. It can glide to various depths and positions, patrol a pre-set surveillance area and can be programmed to surface after a certain time or if a sensor is triggered.
If the robot detects "an event of interest" -- the presence of a pod of whales, for instance -- it rises to the surface and makes contact with trackers via either digital radio hardware provided by FreeWave Technologies or through the Iridium Satellite telephone network. After information about a whale's location is uploaded, the Slocum Diver continues on its way or can be reprogrammed for another mission.
During a January test in the Bahamas, the Glider was able to detect the hard-to-hear high frequency sounds of members of the beaked whale family, said Theriault. While these initial tests were aimed at locating whales, the robot could be used to find a variety of underwater objects using sound. The next step will be to test the Glider in Canadian waters this summer, Theriault said.
At that point, the research team plans to work on improving the robot's power usage while using it to detect and monitor other types of aquatic mammals, he said.
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