SubCULTron is an EU-funded project, which aims to develop underwater robots to monitor water quality. Three different types of robots have been designed, they have long-term underwater autonomy, are self-regulating and self-sustaining.
On the ocean floor, artificial mussels monitor the natural habitat, including biological agents like algae, bacterial incrustation and fish. These 'mussels' are the collective long-term memory of the system, storing data collected by all three robots and allowing this knowledge to be reused continuously.
On the water surface, artificial lily pads keep contact with the surface. They provide the robots with energy and information provided by shipping traffic or satellite data.
Artificial fish swim in the marine environment and exchange information with the mussels and the lily pads.
Heavily equipped with sensors and energy harvesting platforms, the bio-robots can autonomously monitor underwater at different water depths. They send data to the surface and communicate with each other in all water conditions, even turbulent waters ones. Researchers hope the project will pave the way for industry to build up large fleets of underwater robots for different uses from monitoring to harvesting and mining.
You can see a short documentary about the subCULTron project on Futuris, the science programme of the pan-European television channel Euronews. It was shown on TV more than a dozen times until 8 October 2017 and can still be watched anytime online:
Euronews video (4:00), also available in DE, EL, ES, FR, HU, IT, PT and further languages
Euronews short video "Takeaway" (0:53) - English subtitles
Blogpost by the project coordinator Thomas Schmickl