Joint project develops small autonomous systems

Sep 7, 2020

New approach to explore inaccessible places

Areas that are difficult to access - whether in space or in the deep sea - are the location for the autonomous system to be developed. Graphic: Christoph Waldmann

In order to explore places inaccessible to ships, marine researchers need new technical approaches that use methods of artificial intelligence. Ice-covered seas and lakes, for example, are among the inaccessible places. The goal is to develop completely autonomous systems that can also take samples independently at locations of scientific interest. In a joint project funded by DLR Space Agency (Bonn) and led by Dr. Christoph Waldmann of MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen, engineers and scientists are jointly developing an autonomous sampling system to obtain contamination-free samples from lakes and seas covered with ice.

A holistic approach, the system approach, is the main focus of the TRIPLE project (Technologies for Rapid Ice Penetration and subglacial Lake Exploration). This means that the three subcomponents melting probe, which the miniaturized, autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) carries under an ice layer, and the sample analysis laboratory standing on the ice are understood as a unit.

Once exposed, the autonomous vehicle can explore the environment and take samples. At the end of the scientific mission, the nanoAUV will be taken back to the ice surface with the help of the melt-through probe in order to leave no contamination in places previously untouched by humans. This includes the deep sea, for example, but also use in space. The new technology is being developed with a view to missions on water-covered planets and moons, the so-called ice moons, and also planets such as Mars, but there are of course parallels to the exploration of the polar seas. A field test is planned for the end of the project in Antarctica. "The aim is to develop an operational overall system that will feed samples for scientific analysis for material of organic origin," summarizes Christoph Waldmann.

In addition to the University of Bremen and MARUM, scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute in Bremerhaven, the DLR in Bremen, the DFKI, the Technical University of Braunschweig and the RWTH Aachen as well as the Bremen space company DSI and the company GSI GmbH from Aachen are involved in the project. The project is funded for five years.

The project integrates results from previous projects in the space and deep-sea sector, including the ROBEX project, which was funded by the Helmholtz Association and in which MARUM has already played a major role. Here, the focus was already on underwater vehicle missions under extreme conditions.

Contact:

Dr. Christoph Waldmann
Marine Technology
Telephone: 0049 421 – 218 65606
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