Taking the underwater robotics to next level, the researchers have come up with SOLO –TREC (Sounding Oceanographic Lagrangian Observer – Thermal RECharging), which is an unmanned underwater vessel powered by energy harnessed from changes in sea...
Taking the underwater robotics to next level, the researchers have come up with SOLO –TREC (Sounding Oceanographic Lagrangian Observer – Thermal RECharging), which is an unmanned underwater vessel powered by energy harnessed from changes in sea temperatures.
SOLO–TREC is a first vehicle powered solely by the ocean’s thermal energy and produces more energy than it consumes. However, the autonomous robotic vehicle took five years of research and more than three months of testing off the Hawaiian Islands to prove its metal.
SOLO –TREC features 10 external tubes of a waxy substance known as phase-change material. The waxy substance melts and expands in warm water and solidifies and contracts in cool water, thus putting pressure on the oil that drives the electric motor.
The electric motor generates electricity and recharges batteries that further give power to a pump which is capable to change the float’s buoyancy, allowing it to move up and down in the water.
During the testing, the whole system generated enough power to support 183-pound vehicle’s 300 dives from the ocean’s surface to a depth of 1,640 feet, its buoyancy controls and scientific, GPS, and communication instruments at the same time.
The robotic vehicle and its engine were designed by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California-San Diego and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the ONR respectively.
Via: Popsci
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