AI- and Solar-powered Autonomous Ship Mayflower Launched
A new Mayflower has been launched in Plymouth, 400 years after its historic namesake set sail from southwest England to America.The new vessel won't be carrying pilgrim settlers across the Atlantic. In fact, it won't hold any crew or passengers at all. The sleek AI- and solar-powered trimaran is autonomy level five, meaning it can operate independently with no human intervention. Next year, it will embark on the famous ocean voyage from Plymouth, England to Plymouth, Mass. completely autonomously, gathering vital environmental data.Two years of design, construction and AI model training has
Robot-subs Help Protect Deep-sea Corals
A fleet of robotic submarines, based at the National Oceanography Centre (NOC), headquartered in Southampton, have been used to map vulnerable cold-water coral reefs in the deep ocean off southwest England. This data set is being used to inform the management of a new Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ) that protects the only area of deep-sea coral habitat in English waters. This MCZ forms part of a national network that is being expanded this week as a second round of designated sites are announced by Defra. Scientists at the NOC worked in partnership with the Defra network to collect
Robot Fleet Completes Pioneering Mission
The second phase of an ambitious project to gather valuable information on ocean processes and marine life using a fleet of innovative marine robots has just reached its conclusion. Co-ordinated by the National Oceanography Centre (NOC), the Exploring Ocean Fronts project took place off southwest England and saw the largest deployment of robotic vehicles ever attempted in UK waters. The marine robots, which are powered by a combination of wave, wind and solar power, are controlled by satellite communications and can cover hundreds of kilometres in a single mission. In the latest phase
February 2024
