Autonomous vehicles for remote sample collection in difficult conditions: Enabling remote sample collection by marine biologists

Rapidly dropping costs and increasing capabilities of robotic systems are creating unprecedented opportunities for the world of scientific research. Remote sample collection in conditions that were once impossible due to expense, location, timing, or risk are now becoming a reality. Of particular interest in marine biological research is the aspect of removing additional stressors in the form of humans and equipment from whale monitoring. In a partnership between Olin College of Engineering and Ocean Alliance, a multirotor unmanned air vehicle (UAV) named SnotBot is being developed to enable marine biologists to collect observational data and biological samples from living whales in a less intrusive and more effective way. In Summer 2014 tests conducted in the Gulf of Mexico it was demonstrated that SnotBot may not be an irritant to whales of study with respect to the noise and downdraft generated by the UAV [1]. The results from those field tests are being used to apply for research permits to collect samples from real whales. Until formal authorization to operate over whales is granted, controlled testing at Olin College and in the Gloucester Harbor of Massachusetts Bay is being conducted to characterize the vehicles and develop autonomy. Beyond cetacean/whale research, the ability to collect physical samples in difficult or sensitive locations, as demonstrated by SnotBot, has far reaching applications in environmental monitoring, aerial surveying, and diagnosis of a transient events.