Dec 9 2010
The robots that have been deployed at the Great Barrier Reef have provided significant information to the researchers about the marine ecosystems, including very minute fluctuations in the water column.
Robots
A network of over 250 sensors were used for continuous sensing of the marine environments, comprising thermal conditions of the sea and presence of algae in the water, furnishing marine data to scientists at the Australian Institute of Marine Science.
The sensors are in numerous sizes from 50cm lengthy cylinders, to the size of a matchbox, and are positioned at the northern Torres Strait and in New South Wales. According to Craig Steinberg, AIMS project leader, one robot has the capability to spend about 149 days in the deep Coral Sea, monitoring the water column and can be used for collecting data from the interior regions of the sea economically, which cannot be done by earlier technologies because of high-expenses.