Unmanned surface vehicle Wave Glider is designed, manufactured and sold by American maritime robotics company Liquid Robotics (USV). The Wave Glider uses ocean waves to propel itself. Wave Gliders may stay at sea for months at a time, collecting and sending ocean data, thanks to this energy source.
The Wave Glider provides an extra propulsion method that uses solar energy that has been saved. The increased directional thrust improves manoeuvrability and accuracy, aids in navigating treacherous maritime conditions (doldrums, strong currents, hurricanes/cyclones), or allows for mission adjustments. Batteries that power sensors are also recharged by the solar energy system. Use fewer pilots and lower risk fleets to operate the Wave Glider. Real-time mission changes are necessary to meet evolving operational needs.
Winch for Deploying Ocean Sensors at Depth
The Winch 150P, which was created especially for the Wave Glider, provides constant power and communication via the line all the way to the payload at the sinker, making it the perfect choice for subsea acoustics, CTD and fluorometry casts, water sampling, and fish tracking.
Open Sensor and Payload Integration Architecture
The Wave Glider can accommodate a variety of sensors and payloads. Together with a potent solar energy system and an on-board computing environment, the flexible and changeable payload architecture enables our partners to create and offer distinctive solutions to clients. More significantly, it enables users to swiftly expand a tested application over several Wave Gliders.
Wave Glider Specifications
In addition to atmospheric and oceanographic sensors, the vehicles are equipped with seismic sensors for earthquake and tsunami detection, and video cameras and sound sensors for security and environmental protection.
2016 was a great year for robotics and automation acquisitions: 50 firms were sold, 11 for more than $500 million, and five for more than $1 billion. There were 30 firms out of 50 that declared transaction amounts totaling a whopping $18,867 billion dollars.
Airbus bought Liquid Robotics from its Autonomous Systems for Defense, Space & Security division, according to the firm. There are more than 1.2 million nautical miles that have been covered by Liquid Robotics’ Wave Gliders, which have been used by many different companies for commercial, defence and scientific purposes. According to leaks and speculation, Boeing paid $300 million for Lockheed Martin (LR), even though neither company released any financial information.
A whopping 47 percent of the acquisitions were financed by Chinese capital, according to the report. These include Kuka and Dematic by Midea, KraussMaffei and Paslin by ChemChina, Gimatic and Ecoclean by SBS Group.
Liquid Robotics’ Wave Glider robot, which is powered by solar panels and a novel propulsion mechanism that takes use of the energy difference between surface waves and the relative quiet of deeper water, is used in the SHARCs. There is no need for gasoline.
SHARC was tested by US Navy last year to see if it might be used as a surveillance and information collecting tool. To alert decision-makers, it would send a satellite-based message if it identified a threat, Greenstein added.
These systems might be used in circumstances where the Navy wants to maintain a low profile, where long-term monitoring is necessary, or where possible underwater threats such as submarines must be watched.
However, there was no mention of the acquisition agreement’s specifics in the press release. “Customary closing criteria” must be met, according to the firms involved in the deal.
When Liquid Robotics began commercialising the technologies used to track whale songs in 2007, it employed only a handful of employees in the Bay Area and Hawaii. Since then, they have collected more than $81 million from investors in six rounds of venture capital investment to become the agile ocean observation service that they are today, which is low-cost and self-sustaining. As a result, they will become a subsidiary of Boeing’s Autonomous Systems for Defense, Space, & Security division.
“With Liquid Robotics’ innovative technology and Boeing’s leading intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance solutions, we are helping our customers address maritime challenges in ways that make existing platforms smarter, missions safer and operations more efficient,” said Leanne Caret, president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security.