The goal was to develop algorithms to detect pollution on and in the water using existing sensors. This would enable a vehicle to navigate autonomously on a body of water. The project is called “iMarEx,” short for “Intelligent Maritime Exploration.”
To this end, the team of computer scientists and engineers modified the MARUM Wave Glider with computing hardware and sensors so that the vehicle can receive driving commands generated by autonomous algorithms and move very precisely in a given space – i.e., a body of water – using GPS. The vehicle's route can be tracked via a satellite connection and, just like the status of the system, is transmitted autonomously to the operator in real time.
After three years of project work, the result is several successful tests on the water, during which a vehicle autonomously took over its own route planning and initial data evaluation after a search area had been defined. The iMarEx system was used on board the MARUM Wave Glider for the tests. Appropriate evaluation sensors enable the device to make intelligent decisions, and when pollution is detected and reported, researchers can take action. In a real-life scenario involving an oil spill, this could mean that the emergency response team knows exactly where to repair a leak.
The focus of a call for proposals was on how to advance the development of artificial intelligence or intelligent algorithms in general. The team submitted a scenario involving polluted water surfaces and suggested intelligent solutions that could be developed for this problem. “In general, it is possible to detect various sources with a suitable sensor – for example, chlorophyll, oil, or freshwater inflows,” emphasizes computational neuroscientist Joachim Clemens. For this reason, the algorithms could also be used in the TRIPLE project. The acronym TRIPLE stands for “Technologies for Rapid Ice Penetration and Subglacial Lake Exploration” and, like iMarEx, is now being funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economics in its second phase.
Although the new intelligent technology has undergone testing on the Wave Glider and a catamaran, Sebastian Meckel states that it can also be used on other watercraft.
Further information:
Contact:
Dipl.-Ing. Sebastian Meckel
Marine Technology
MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences
University of Bremen
Email: smeckelprotect me ?!marumprotect me ?!.de
Dr.-Ing. Joachim Clemens
Autonomous Systems
Cognitive Neuroinformatics
University of Bremen
Email: jayceeprotect me ?!uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de
