In the News
Seafaring robot crashes into iceberg, still finishes scientific trip around Antarctica
13,670 nautical miles. 50-foot waves. One big collision. Over the weekend a Saildrone — a 23-foot long uncrewed marine robot — withstood the tempestuous seas around Antarctica to complete the first-ever circumnavigation of the continent by a drone. Adrienne Sutton is quoted.
Saildrone’s Journey Around Antarctica Uncovers New Climate Clues
The robot sailboat is called #1020. It’s a lackluster moniker for a machine that just spent seven months battling its way through 12,500 miles of frigid, massive waves to circumnavigate Antarctica. The robot, made by startup Saildrone, is the first of its kind to complete the harrowing journey. More important, it’s the only scientific vehicle to have captured such a detailed environmental picture of the state of the Southern Ocean, bringing back data that could be key to our understanding of climate change. Adrienne Sutton is quored.
Podcast: How robots are revolutionizing chemical oceanography
Robots in the ocean are giving scientists more details about processes above and below the surface that affect our weather, our food supply, and more. They’re also helping chemical oceanographers understand and record the effects that climate change is having on our waters. Drs. Jessica Cross and Nancy Williams are featured on the podcast discussing their ocean carbon research using ocean robots such as Saildrone.
NOAA deploys a flotilla of Saildrones in the Arctic
In 2014, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) partnered with Saildrone, Inc. to test the possibilities of using unmanned sailing vehicles to collect data. From 2015 to 2017, missions including one to the Bering Sea, were used to verify the data platforms and to confirm that the sensors were working well. Each year they continued to tweak the challenge sensors adding more complex variables. Jessica Cross is quoted.
Saildrones go where humans can’t — or don’t want to — to study the world’s oceans
NEAH BAY, Clallam County — As the crew of a Makah tribal salmon boat unloaded their catch like generations of fishermen before them, scientists at the other end of the pier in this small coastal community were wrangling more futuristic cargo. Chris Meinig is quoted and the Arctic and TPOS Saildrone missions are referenced.