Collaborative Research: Mesobot: a robot for investigating the ocean interior

海洋的中水领域是水下机器人的下一个前沿。中大洋或“黄昏”带包括200到1000米的深度，在那里阳光很暗。这一广阔的区域在调节海洋化学和生物方面发挥着关键作用，而海洋化学和生物反过来又强烈影响着全球气候。中层海洋带拥有地球上大部分鱼类种群，以及鲜为人知的将海洋表面与海底耦合的过程，包括浮游生物、有机和无机颗粒、气泡和水滴的垂直通量。中层海洋特征通常是流动的、斑驳的和短暂的，因此调查和采样可能非常困难。最近的研究发现，包括鱼类在内的中上层生物量被严重低估，但对该地区模式和过程的调查受到现有技术的强烈限制。该项目将生产一种独特的新机器人，它将使人们能够前所未有地科学地进入中水环境，补充现有的调查和采样工具。该机器人将使用摄像头、灯光和海洋传感器，在不干扰这些目标的情况下，自动跟踪移动缓慢的单个目标，如迁移中的动物、下降的颗粒以及上升的气泡和水滴。它还将有能力探测和跟踪细微尺度的海洋特征，如含有关键营养物质的薄层。最后，机器人将利用船上的智能来采集样本，以准确地确定何时何地进行样本。根据这一计划，该机器人将在伍兹霍尔海洋研究所、蒙特利湾水族馆研究所、斯坦福大学和德克萨斯大学格兰德河谷大学的合作下建造和测试。

The ocean's midwater realm is the next frontier for underwater robots. The mesopelagic or "twilight" zone encompasses depths from 200 to 1000 meters where sunlight is dim. This vast region plays a key role in regulating ocean chemistry and biology, which in turn strongly effects global climate. The mesopelagic zone holds much of our planet's fish populations as well as poorly understood processes that couple the ocean surface to the seafloor including vertical fluxes of plankton, organic and inorganic particles, bubbles, and droplets. Mesopelagic features are often mobile, patchy, and ephemeral, so surveys and sampling can be very difficult. Recent studies have found that mesopelagic biomass including fish are dramatically underestimated, yet investigations of patterns and processes in this region are strongly constrained by available technology.This program will produce a unique new robot that will enable unprecedented scientific access to midwater environments, complementing existing survey and sampling tools. The robot will use cameras, lights, and oceanographic sensors to autonomously track slow-moving individual targets such as migrating mid-water animals, descending particles, and rising bubbles and droplets without disturbing those targets. It will also have the ability to detect and follow fine-scale oceanographic features such as thin layers that hold critical nutrients. Finally, the robot will take samples utilizing on-board intelligence to determine precisely when and where to sample. Under this program, the robot will be built and tested under a collaboration between the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Stanford University, and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.