Liquid Robotics has deployed four Wave Glider ocean robots on a journey across the Pacific Ocean. Upon completing this journey the ocean robots will be setting the world record for completing the longest journey by any unmanned ocean vehicle.
Wave Glider
This voyage has been named PacX and aims at discovering new scientific facts about the ocean by collecting ocean data while undertaking this year’s long journey. Liquid Robotics has tied up with Google Earth to present the world an opportunity to follow the journey virtually.
While traversing across the ocean, the Wave Gliders will be collecting around 2.25 million discrete data points and transmit the ocean parameters such as salinity, temperature, waves, fluorescence and dissolved oxygen. The journey is 33,000 nmi long and the Wave Gliders will have to sail through some of the toughest oceanic environments. Initially all the four gliders will travel together till Hawaii and from there split into two groups one travelling towards Japan and the other towards Australia. The data gathered and transmitted by the Gliders will be if immense use to scientists, students and educators across the world. Some of the unexplored locations of the ocean and related data will be made available for the first time through this expedition.
Source: http://www.liquidr.com/