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Updated September 3rd, 2021 at 17:50 IST

German oceanographer designs 'penguin robot' to study marine phenomenon ocean eddies

Burkard Baschek, a German oceanographer has designed the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle, which can swim underwater, to study ocean eddies.

Reported by: Anurag Roushan
Penguin
Image Credits: Unsplash | Image:self
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The former head of Germany’s Institute of Coastal Ocean Dynamics at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht Centre developed a robot that appears like a penguin. Burkard Baschek, who is now director of the German Oceanographic Museum in the northern port of Stralsund, designed this Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) which is being termed as the latest advance in maritime sensory equipment, according to The Guardian. He designed the AUV, which can swim underwater, after more than $20,000 of his underwater ocean equipment sank to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. The AUV or the penguin robot is a 3D-printed self-propelled machine that has been designed to study the ocean eddies. The other research methods have not been successful in capturing the eddies, which are small ocean currents, reported The Guardian

Eddies influence plants and animals in seas as well as Earth's climate

Eddies are an important part of oceans as they influence all the plants and animals in the seas as well as Earth's climate, besides driving around half of all phytoplankton production. The marine plants such as kelp and algal plankton along with Phytoplanktons form the base of the marine food chain, producing up to 70% of the atmospheric oxygen. However, eddies are often poorly understood by scientists because they are small, even if they have a greater significance. Speaking to The Guardian, Baschek threw light on the importance of eddies and said that every fourth breath that a human takes depends on ocean eddies. He further stated that studying the eddies has not been easy because they only cover a small area and their average lifespan is not more than 12 hours. 

'Bannasch and his team are making two more penguin robots'

According to The Guardian, speaking of the AUV, known as the Quadroin, Baschek said that the only way to prevent underwater hazards was to develop something which can do necessary oceanographic measurements without being tied to a rope. He said that he has earlier developed about 20 sensors attached to a rope and those were towed behind a ship to measure key variables in the eddies but the experiment failed as the rope would find rocks, fishing nets or other hindrances which subsequently destroyed the data, reported The Guardian. It further reported that Quadroin has a maximum speed of eight knots (9.2mph) and its first prototype had its maiden voyage in a lake near Berlin in Germany.

Meanwhile, Quadroin can roam freely through the water to depths of at least 150 metres and Bannasch and his team are on their way to develop two more penguin robots that would swim in together communicating with each other, reported The Guardian.

(Image Credits: Unsplash)

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Published September 3rd, 2021 at 17:50 IST

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