www.csua.org/u/kql -> news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20080211/sc_livescience/submersiblerobotrunsonseasheat
com Mon Feb 11, 11:50 AM ET Scientists have invented the Prius of ocean-going submersibles - a new "green" robotic glider that runs on energy absorbed from the heat of the sea, rather than batteries.
It is the first autonomous underwater vehicle to travel great distances for extended periods running on green energy, according to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).
WHOI researchers plan to use the data gathered by the craft to study ocean currents in the area. To power its propulsion, the submersible gathers thermal energy from the ocean. When it moves from cooler water to warmer areas, internal tubes of wax are heated up and expand, pushing out the gas in surrounding tanks and increasing its pressure. The compressed gas stores potential energy, like a squeezed spring, that can be used to power the vehicle.
buoyancy to dive and surface, unlike motorized, propeller-driven undersea vehicles. To rise, oil is pushed from inside the vehicle to external bladders, thus increasing the glider's volume without changing its mass, making it less dense. The oil can be shifted inside to increase the density and sink the vehicle. A vertical tail rudder allows the glider to be steered horizontally. Technically, the new vehicle is a hybrid, like Toyota's Prius, because it uses a small amount of battery power to run the onboard instruments and to move the rudder. Gliders of this type are perfect for long-term, long-distance journeys that humans can't make, Hodges said. "They can be very helpful in getting measurements that would be too expensive to get otherwise - any kind of study that requires long-term measurements from multiple locations," Hodges told LiveScience. "If you had to be there in a ship, it would cost millions of dollars."
com for more daily news, views and scientific inquiry with an original, provocative point of view. LiveScience reports amazing, real world breakthroughs, made simple and stimulating for people on the go.
|
http://csua.com/feed/