The drones can stay underwater for as long as a month at a time, providing continuous data and “protecting” the reefs.
A swarm of submersibles will be used to monitor and provide data on offshore artificial reefs intended to attract marine life in otherwise barren sections of sea, officials said Monday.
The autonomous underwater vehicles, or AUVs, will be equipped with sensors and high-definition cameras. The data they collect will give scientists at the Cyprus Marine and Maritime Institute (CMMI) a clear picture of the effectiveness of their artificial reefs designed and built using 3D printing.
Made of an environmentally friendly cement mixture, the artificial reefs will be embedded with a docking station at which the AUVs can recharge and transmit collected data including video, said CMMI CEO Zakarias Siokouros.
Why are scientists using drones?
The advantage of the AUVs lies in their ability to stay underwater for as long as a month at a time. They can also provide continuous data while “protecting” the reefs by alerting scientists to any disturbance in protected waters from illegal fishing and encroaching boats. Scientists would, in turn, notify local authorities.
A trial run of the project, dubbed EONIOS, is underway off Cyprus’ Ayia Napa marina. Scientists plan to place the artificial reefs in waters off Cyprus’ southern coastal town of Limassol at a depth of around 20 metres where sunlight can still reach the seabed.
“The reefs attract everything from vegetation to large fish and for waters off Cyprus where there isn’t enough food for fish, we aim to create the appropriate environment to bring such fish there,” Siokouros told The Associated Press following a demonstration of the AUVs’ capabilities at the Ayia Napa Marina.
EONIOS is a partnership between the CMMI, AUV makers Arkeocean of France, Cypriot tech company SignalGeneriX and French consultancy company Lanego.
Siokouros said the partnership aims to market EONIOS to other countries that would want to build up their fish stocks using artificial reefs.
A key selling point for the AUVs is that they can provide surveillance, 3D data collection and area protection at a significant discount compared to tethered submersibles, said Arkeocean official Tamara Brizard.
“Our goal is to make a system under which six of our mini-drones can do the same work for the price of one conventional drone,” Brizard said.
The underwater drones could have other uses
Arkeocean AUVs can currently pack a maximum of 5 kilograms of sensors and other gear and can operate to a depth of 300 metres although newer versions are being designed to reach 3,000 metres. The AUVs receive commands through an attached acoustic antenna and can pinpoint their location.
Battery-powered thrusters mean they are very stealthy and nearly undetectable, Brizard said, making them extremely useful for defence purposes such as surveillance in restricted waters.
They can also operate anywhere in the world thanks to an Iridium satellite antenna.
On top of this, the AUVs can use undersea currents to roam, extending battery life. Another application is in the energy field where the submersibles can be used to detect seismic activity for offshore oil and gas exploration as well as finding suitable areas on which to build offshore wind and solar farms, said Brizard.
