Page 17: of Marine Technology Magazine (June 2017)

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Photo: Apium

The Apium Data Diver

The Data Diver is a new type of vehicle: a hand launched gps enabled boat that doubles as a motorized pro? ling sys- tem. With only two moving parts, the vehicles travel at up to 4 knots, reversing motor direction to dive vertically up to 100 meters. Apium developed these vehicles to study swarm control algorithms to perfect the simple and intuitive control of groups. With this swarming ability and the com- pany’s rugged “drive and dive” vehicle architecture, new types of distributed data collection are possible. Apium is currently developing a product based upon this technology, with standard versions integrating commercial sensors to potentially include depth, temperature, conductivity, sound velocity and dissolved oxygen, as well as ? uorometers, hy- drophones and sonars.

The prototype vehicles last 1-2 hours on a typical deploy- ment, and measure temperature and depth. Their low pro? le and high speed let them station keep in surf-zone environ- ments. The version currently in development is targeting an operational endurance in the range of 8-12 hours, with top speeds of 6-8 knots and a maximum depth rating of 250 7KLQNRXUWUDQVSRQGHUVDUHWRRELJWRILW\RXU meters – all in a package that weighs less than 10 lbs and is

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The unique size and low cost of the vehicle is made pos-

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Blue Robotics. Additionally, the vehicles use a wireless in- 8LMjXe[d`ZifIFMj%Lj\`kn`k_fliD`e`$ ductive charging system provided by WiBotic that lets them

IXe^\i)LJ9CXe[pflZXekiXZbdlck`gc\ charge at a rate of 50 watts. The advent of such inexpensive kXi^\kjj`dlckXe\fljcp%K_\jpjk\d`jhl`Zbkf and capable technologies is fostering a revolution in low `ejkXccXe[\Xjp$kf$lj\]ifdjdXccYfXkj%PflZXe cost marine systems. As the company continues to re? ne its ^\kkfnfib`ealjkX]\nj`dgc\jk\gj$jXm`e^ prototype for commercial usage, Apium said it is open to pflmXclXYc\k`d\fepflifg\iXk`fej%Kfj\\ considering application ideas and associated requirements. dfi\#j\XiZ_6RQDUG\QH1DQR

Partnering for system use-case demonstrations is also pos- sible. Additionally, Apium’s work on swarm control is available for licensing on third party vehicle platforms, en- abling unique applications with on-the-? y behavioral plan- ning at sea and in the air.

www.marinetechnologynews.com

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