Europe’s deepest sea glider to be developed
A collaboration of 19 partners from across Europe are working together to develop the continent’s first ultra-deep-sea robot glider. This glider will be capable of sampling the ocean autonomously at depths of 5,000m for up to three months at a time.
The project has won €8m of funding from Horizon 2020 to develop and test this innovative new technology. The four-year project, entitled ‘Bringing together Research and Industry for the Development of Glider Environmental Services’, or BRIDGES, includes the UK’s National Oceanography Centre (NOC) and sees the organisation work closely with nine SMEs from the UK and Europe.
The capability of the new glider to reach at least 75% of the ocean will open up new possibilities for science and industry, including monitoring submarine biodiversity and conducting environmental impact assessments for potential sea bed mining and exploration. The new glider will be able to detect the of presence of ‘plumes’ of sediment created by mining processes using novel sensors developed by the NOC and housed in the ‘nose’ of the glider; the plumes are an important element of the submarine ecosystem.
Dr Mario Brito, who is leading the project from the NOC, commented: “The development and integration of sensors that can work at these depths will be a real challenge … it is something that has not been done before and so the science behind it is really innovative. Furthermore the range of sensors this glider can carry makes it well suited to a wide range of applications, both within research and industry.”
In addition, the NOC will also be responsible for the development of pressure tolerant structures within glider, its propulsion system and testing it at sea. The final test is due to take place in September 2019 off southeast Ireland, and the NOC will use advanced ‘risk and reliability’ techniques to accurately quantify the risk of the glider failing under particular conditions.
