Wave-powered robot arrives in Australia

In a world record setting crossing, the first wave powered autonomous marine robot arrives in Queensland after its lonely 17,000 kilometre journey from San Francisco, writes Andy Park.

2 min read

Published 6 December 2012 6:14pm

Updated 26 August 2013 10:48am

By Andy Park

Source: SBS

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INTERACTIVE MAP

<span>&amp;amp;lt;br /&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;small&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;a style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left" href="https://maps.google.com/maps?q=http:%2F%2Fapps.liquidr.com%2Ffusion%2Fkml%2FPacX_Course_and_Progress.kmz&amp;amp;amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;amp;amp;geocode=+&amp;amp;amp;amp;t=h&amp;amp;amp;amp;ie=UTF8&amp;amp;amp;amp;source=embed&amp;amp;amp;amp;ll=6.315299,-171.5625&amp;amp;amp;amp;spn=104.198471,161.71875"&amp;amp;gt;View Larger Map&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;/small&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;gt;Despite shark attacks, gale-force storms and the 365 days on the lonely open seas, &amp;amp;lt;a href="<a href="http://liquidr.com/pacx/pacific-crossing.html" target="_blank" link-data="{"link_rte.link_text":"http://liquidr.com/pacx/pacific-crossing.html","link_rte.link":{"link.target":"NEW","link.attributes":[],"external_link.url":"http://liquidr.com/pacx/pacific-crossing.html","_id":"00000186-25d6-d585-abd6-7ff694480000","_type":"ff658216-e70f-39d0-b660-bdfe57a5599a"},"_id":"00000186-25d6-d585-abd6-7ff694480001","_type":"809caec9-30e2-3666-8b71-b32ddbffc288"}">http://liquidr.com/pacx/pacific-crossing.html</a>"&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;strong&amp;amp;gt;Papa Mau&amp;amp;lt;/strong&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt;, one of four &amp;amp;lt;a href="<a href="http://liquidr.com/technology/wave-glider.html" target="_blank" link-data="{"link_rte.link_text":"http://liquidr.com/technology/wave-glider.html","link_rte.link":{"link.target":"NEW","link.attributes":[],"external_link.url":"http://liquidr.com/technology/wave-glider.html","_id":"00000186-25d6-d585-abd6-7ff694490000","_type":"ff658216-e70f-39d0-b660-bdfe57a5599a"},"_id":"00000186-25d6-d585-abd6-7ff694490001","_type":"809caec9-30e2-3666-8b71-b32ddbffc288"}">http://liquidr.com/technology/wave-glider.html</a>"&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;strong&amp;amp;gt;Wave Gliders&amp;amp;lt;/strong&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt; who set out from San Francisco last year, has successfully traversed the Pacific Ocean.&amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;gt;The autonomous marine robot, which uses only solar and wave power, arrived in Harvey Bay, Queensland today, setting a new Guinness World Record for the longest distance travelled by an autonomous vehicle, travelling 16,668 kilometres or 9000 nautical miles.&amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;gt;The three machines began their journey together from California to Hawaii, and then split into pairs where one pair is continuing to Japan via the Mariana Trench.&amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;gt;One of the pair, which spit off to head for Australia, malfunctioned and had to be dry-docked for repairs.&amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;strong&amp;amp;gt;WAVE GLIDER ARCHITECTURE&amp;amp;lt;/strong&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;img src="/news/sites/sbs.com.au.news/files/images/w/a/wave-powered-robot-arrives-in-australia_embedded_0.jpg" /&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;gt;The data collecting and transmitting robot navigated along a prescribed route, collecting high-resolution images and data that are being made available free and in real time for anyone to use, from oceanographers, geographers, marine biologists and other scientists.&amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;gt;It's part of the PacX Challenge, a global competition that's been set up to explore and research the data set.&amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;gt;Five science teams have now been selected to compete for the grand prize of $50,000 in research money from BP.&amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;strong&amp;amp;gt;WAVE GLIDER ARRIVES IN AUSTRALIA &amp;amp;lt;/strong&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;gt;<brightspot-cms-external-content data-state="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55DNChSUWCc&amp" target="_blank" link-data="{"link_rte.link_text":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55DNChSUWCc&amp","link_rte.link":{"link.target":"NEW","link.attributes":[],"external_link.url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55DNChSUWCc&amp","_id":"00000186-25d6-d585-abd6-7ff694490002","_type":"ff658216-e70f-39d0-b660-bdfe57a5599a"},"_id":"00000186-25d6-d585-abd6-7ff694490003","_type":"809caec9-30e2-3666-8b71-b32ddbffc288"}">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55DNChSUWCc&amp</a>;quot;,&quot;_id&quot;:&quot;0000017e-92cf-dbb0-ab7e-93cfce8a0000&quot;,&quot;_type&quot;:&quot;035d81d3-5be2-3ed2-bc8a-6da208e0d9e2&quot;}">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55DNChSUWCc</brightspot-cms-external-content>&amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;ldquo;To say we are excited and proud of Papa Mau reaching his final destination is an understatement,&amp;amp;amp;rdquo; said Bill Vass, CEO of Liquid Robotics.&amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;ldquo;We set off on the PacX journey to demonstrate that Wave Glider technology could not only survive the high seas and a journey of this length, but more importantly, collect and transmit ocean data in real-time from the most remote portions of the Pacific Ocean.&amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;gt;"We've demonstrated delivery of ocean data services through the most challenging ocean&amp;amp;lt;br /&amp;amp;gt; conditions. Mission accomplished.&amp;amp;amp;rdquo;&amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;strong&amp;amp;gt;WAVE GLIDER STRONG ENOUGH TO PULL DIVER&amp;amp;lt;/strong&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;gt;<brightspot-cms-external-content data-state="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_X05oIUmDo&amp" target="_blank" link-data="{"link_rte.link_text":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_X05oIUmDo&amp","link_rte.link":{"link.target":"NEW","link.attributes":[],"external_link.url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_X05oIUmDo&amp","_id":"00000186-25d6-d585-abd6-7ff694490004","_type":"ff658216-e70f-39d0-b660-bdfe57a5599a"},"_id":"00000186-25d6-d585-abd6-7ff694490005","_type":"809caec9-30e2-3666-8b71-b32ddbffc288"}">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_X05oIUmDo&amp</a>;quot;,&quot;_id&quot;:&quot;0000017e-92cf-dbb0-ab7e-93cfce8a0001&quot;,&quot;_type&quot;:&quot;035d81d3-5be2-3ed2-bc8a-6da208e0d9e2&quot;}">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_X05oIUmDo</brightspot-cms-external-content>&amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;strong&amp;amp;gt;HOW IT WORKS&amp;amp;lt;/strong&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;gt;<brightspot-cms-external-content data-state="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfJq9nQ_m2A&amp" target="_blank" link-data="{"link_rte.link_text":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfJq9nQ_m2A&amp","link_rte.link":{"link.target":"NEW","link.attributes":[],"external_link.url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfJq9nQ_m2A&amp","_id":"00000186-25d6-d585-abd6-7ff694490006","_type":"ff658216-e70f-39d0-b660-bdfe57a5599a"},"_id":"00000186-25d6-d585-abd6-7ff694490007","_type":"809caec9-30e2-3666-8b71-b32ddbffc288"}">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfJq9nQ_m2A&amp</a>;quot;,&quot;_id&quot;:&quot;0000017e-92cf-dbb0-ab7e-93cfce8a0002&quot;,&quot;_type&quot;:&quot;035d81d3-5be2-3ed2-bc8a-6da208e0d9e2&quot;}">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfJq9nQ_m2A</brightspot-cms-external-content>&amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;gt;</span>

Wave-powered robot arrives in Australia

In a world record setting crossing, the first wave powered autonomous marine robot arrives in Queensland after its lonely 17,000 kilometre journey from San Francisco, writes Andy Park.

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Wave-powered robot arrives in Australia

In a world record setting crossing, the first wave powered autonomous marine robot arrives in Queensland after its lonely 17,000 kilometre journey from San Francisco, writes Andy Park.

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