Not All Underwater Reefs are Made of Coral
the proposed objects or materials are appropriate to deploy in the ocean.For example, decommissioned ships are thoroughly cleaned and drained of fuel and other polluting substances prior to sinking to minimize environmental risks. Some materials that were once used to create artificial reefs, such as rubber, fiberglass, wood and plastic, are now prohibited because they may move from their placed location, damaging nearby habitat, or deteriorate quickly in salt water.Reefed objects can be sunk only in predesignated areas of the U.S. seafloor. These zones, which are usually sandy sea bottom, total about
MTR100: Underwater Cameras, Lights and Ocean Landers
, like wiper brushes and UV LEDs, have been demonstrated.LightsLEDs are ubiquitous. Light goes out the front, while heat goes out the back, making the housing design straightforward. Various approaches to covering the LED in clear materials have been devised, from acrylic flat plates to clear silicone rubber sheets. Some cast the LEDs in a block of clear acrylic. Heat is the principal enemy of LEDs. Much has been written about topside luminaire design, including the use of heat transfer material behind the PCB to carry the heat away from the LEDs (google “CREE LED Luminaire Design Guide”)
Cleanup Day Comes to Philippine Capital's Polluted Bay
Hundreds of volunteers joined a mass cleanup drive along the coast of the polluted Manila Bay in the Philippine capital to mark International Coastal Cleanup Day on Saturday.Volunteers and government workers, including hundreds of coast guard personnel, collected sachets, rubber slippers and other non-biodegradable waste that have been washed in the Manila Bay, a 60 km (37 mile) semi-enclosed estuary facing the South China Sea."This initiative will help make our coastal area in Manila Bay better so that our tourists and visitors will see the beauty of the bay," college student Kendrick Lopez
Bombora Making Progress with 'World’s Most Powerful' Wave Energy Converter
the quayside in Pembroke Dock before loadout to the operational site at East Pickard Bay, where the mWave technology will be validated in the open ocean, advancing it to TRL (Technology Readiness Level) 7/8.”Bombora’s mWave solution involves a series of air-inflated concave cells covered with rubber membranes and mounted into a steel foundation structure secured beneath the ocean’s surface. As waves pass overhead, air is squeezed out of each cell module in sequence, passing through one-way valves and into a duct system fitted with an axial turbine before being recirculated to refill
Lander Lab #3: Buoyancy
can be internal or external, providing some design choices. Work is still being done on creating a metal flange to protect the finely polished glass sealing surfaces and provide an o-ring seal. Random surface spalling may be due to residual stresses of the casting and forming operation. Rubber bumpers over the polished glass edge is crutial when the sphere is open to prevent inadvertent damage from impact to the glass.Syntactic Foam: Engineered Syntactic Systems (Attleboro, MA), Trelleborg/Eccofloat (Boston, MA), DeepWater Buoyancy, (Biddeford, ME) < >, SynFoam (Livingston,
Meet NOUS: An Underwater ‘Artificial Mind’
of the crystal has been provisioned in the camera housing that removes marine deposits that develop over time and reduce the effectiveness of the optical system. Thus, a wiper system made for the needs of this particular housing was installed, consisting of a sealed servo motor and a cleaning arm with a rubber cleaning material. The cleaning system is fully and autonomously controlled (via image processing algorithms and optical system quality diagnostics) by the camera computer. During the design phase, the practice of 3D-printer manufacturing was followed for all components to ensure full size functionality
Blue Robotics Expands on the WetLink Line
or penetrators, the WLP is a fraction of the cost while offering validated reliability. The WetLink Penetrator line now has cable gland sizes compatible with cables between 3.7mm to 9.8mm diameter.The patent-pending design of the WLP is based on a compression gland seal design, optimized for sealing rubber jacketed cables at the high pressures seen in the ocean. “The WetLink Penetrator is a game-changing product: with this expanded product line, you can reliably sealjust about any small cable to 950 meter depth for just $12," said Blue Robotics CEO, Rustom Jehangir. "We&rsquo
New Report Tracks Sources of Marine Litter
uses: marine litter can occur as a result of offshore oil and gas exploration; shark and "stinger" nets set up in beach areas to prevent harm to humans; weather monitoring, which can create debris, such as weather balloon equipment including acidic batteries, plastic components and latex rubber; artificial reefs, which may be constructed out of waste materials such as old tyres, etc and may be impacted by tidal and weather conditions; scientific research equipment and activities; and fireworks.The report concludes that sea-based activities do contribute to the global burden of marine litter
Academia’s Climate Change Challenge is Far from Academic
technician Hamish Sutton have launched pre-programmed flights over shallow reef in the Taputeranga Marine Reserve. Hanging off the bottom of the drone is a multispectral camera, able to register colors invisible to the human eye. Throughout its flight, a photo is taken every two seconds. Thanks to rubber maps laid out in the water to relate the images to real features on the ground, the photos are stitched together into 2D or 3D models. The images are then run through computer software training to identify the types of seaweed.In the kelp forests of Antarctica’s Ross Sea, underwater ROVs are
February 2024
