ROV

Episode 30: Cutting Carbon at sea

As we travel through the energy transition, we must rapidly develop new forms of propulsion that reduce or eliminate carbon emissions. This has been a key driver of research and development at vessel builder SEA-KIT International. Jon Baston-Pitt first spoke to SEA-KIT CEO Ben Simpson almost two years ago, for Episode 16 of the Planet…

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Short: Yvan Petillot – Looking to nature, and beyond

Yvan Petillot is joint academic lead at the National Robotarium, in Edinburgh. In this shortcast, he talks to Jon Baston-Pitt about some of the key challenges faced in controlling remotely operated vehicles (ROV) underwater. The core problem is data transfer speeds. And that’s why researchers have turned to nature and creatures like dolphins, to understand…

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Episode 22: Adding autonomy with the National Robotarium

Offshore inspections require arduous and hazardous sea travel. The coming boom in offshore wind will see tens of thousands of assets needing inspection in the North Sea alone. Building fleets of crewed vessels to perform these inspections would have significant carbon impacts. In an earlier Planet Beyond Short, Mark Bruce explained how Fugro is deploying…

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Short: Denise Swanborn – Exploring oceans in a submersible

Denise Swanborn is an expedition manager with Nekton.  She recently completed her PhD in marine science, at Oxford. In this episode, recorded on International Women’s Day, she talks to Jon Baston-Pitt about her own path to marine exploration, and describes the excitement and wonder of a career spent exploring the depths. Denise’s work has taken…

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Short: Deploying remote operated vehicles from uncrewed vessels

Remotely operated vehicles can perform inspections efficiently and effectively without risk to humans. However, they can require time-consuming returns to port for reconfiguration. Mark Bruce has been working to develop electric ROVs that can be deployed from uncrewed surface vessels and pack more sensors in a way that allows them to operate without interruption or…

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Episode 15: The Future of Ocean Technology

Good intentions alone will not secure the future of our seas. More than 90% of trade moves across the ocean, and the global population eyes the marine environment as an increasing source of food. Added to this, a range of new activities are forecast to increase the ocean economy from $1.5 trillion in 2010 to…

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