Autonomous Marine Robot Tested Off Plymouth To Support Floating Offshore Wind Projects

A combination of monitoring technologies designed to advance understanding of the marine environment and prepare for future floating offshore wind developments has been successfully put to the test off the coast of Plymouth.

The two-week trial was designed to give a team led by the University of Plymouth, and spanning science and industry, the opportunity to assemble and test a range of new sensors on board the National Oceanography Centre’s ALR1500.

This included fitting the vessel, an Autosub Long Range multi-sensor autonomous underwater vehicle often known as Boaty McBoatface, with a scientific echosounder used here to map fish and zooplankton in the water column, a hydrophone to record underwater sound, and a miniaturised holographic plankton imaging sensor.

These new sensors complemented an existing suite of technologies used to measure temperature, salinity, oxygen, chlorophyll fluorescence, currents and fine-scale turbulence, and collectively allowed the team to observe marine life alongside the physical and biogeochemical conditions that shape its distribution.

This story was originally published by Marine Insight. Read the full story at Marine Insight →