Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV)
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The UK’s National Oceanography Centre (NOC) and Madeira Island’s Regional Agency for the Development of Research, Technology and Innovation (ARDITI) have formally celebrated a collaboration to advance deep-ocean research.
The partnership, marked by the arrival of the RRS Discovery in Madeira, involves the acquisition of two NOC Autosub Long Range (ALR) Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) by ARDITI. This is the first time the state-of-the-art technology has been sold internationally. The visit was attended by Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Portugal, Lisa Bandari, alongside Rui Caldeira, President of ARDITI, and Elsa Fernandes, Madeira’s Regional Secretary for Education and Science, as well as representatives from both organizations.
Lisa Bandari, British Ambassador, commented, “This deal and the wider partnership between these two leading institutions is a great example of how we can work together to develop cutting-edge research to preserve the ocean, protect the environment, enhance our security, as well as to promote growth and jobs in our two countries.”
The custom-built ALRs will provide unprecedented data collection capabilities to support marine science around Madeira and across the Atlantic. One vehicle is rated to 1,500 metres and is intended for biogeochemical and oceanographic research, while the second is rated to 6,000 metres for seabed mapping. Both are equipped with a full suite of sensors.
Developed over nearly three decades by NOC’s Marine Autonomous and Robotic Systems (MARS) group, Autosub represents the latest generation of long-range autonomous underwater vehicles. The ALR can operate at depths of up to 6,000 metres for up to three months without a research vessel, transforming how scientists observe and understand the global ocean.
A key factor in ARDITI’s investment decision was the vehicles’ open-source operating system and modular design.
Rui Caldeira, President of ARDITI, stated, “It was a priority for us to buy vehicles that are modular and can be customised rather than an off-the-shelf system that can’t be adapted. In the future we’ll be able to integrate sensors ourselves with NOC backup and make changes and upgrades to software which can be fed back into the community.”
Daniel Woods, Commercial Development Manager at NOC, added, “It’s very exciting to be able to provide access to this technology to the broader global marine science community. ARDITI are trailblazing this path, becoming the first international customer of our ALR technology. We look forward to building on this success, working with other research organisations who see the potential of these vehicles to revolutionise ocean data collection.”
The sale is an important step in NOC’s ambition to establish a European network of ALR operators and developers to enhance ocean research, technology sharing, and innovation.
