Autonomous vehicles for remote sample collection: Enabling marine research

Rapidly dropping costs and increasing capabilities of robotic systems are creating unprecedented opportunities in the world of marine 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 cetacean monitoring. In a partnership between Olin College of Engineering and Ocean Alliance, a fleet of multirotor unmanned air vehicles (UAV) called SnotBots are being developed to enable marine biologists to collect observational data and biological samples from living whales in a less intrusive and more effective way. Tests conducted in the Gulf of Mexico (Summer 2014) demonstrated that SnotBots may not be an irritant to whales of study [1] with respect to the noise and downdraft generated by the UAV. 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 Gloucester Harbor of Massachusetts Bay is being conducted to characterize the vehicles and develop autonomy. In the Summer of 2015, we plan to continue autonomy development on the SnotBot fleet, collect samples from up to three species of whales, begin the development of an Autonomous Surface Vehicle (ASV), Ocean Explorer, and begin interface development for all systems. Vehicles like SnotBot and Ocean Explorer have far-reaching applications in autonomous navigation, environmental monitoring, aerial and surface surveying, and data collection techniques. Through the use of open-source techniques, we are confident that other fields can apply and build upon this work.