Robots Under Ice: Gathering Ice Hazard Data from Below

瑟恩集团有限公司和剑桥极地咨询有限公司正在研究使用自主水下机器人(AUV)来确定北极航运和能源设施的冰灾风险。随着全球气候变化，极地冰层正在融化，开辟了新的航道，更容易获得对英国和全球经济至关重要的近海石油和天然气，这些海洋仍然受到季节性冰冻的限制。这个项目将调查使用机器人来做这项工作的可行性。如果该项目确认在北极高海拔地区极端危险的环境中商业使用机器人的可行性，瑟恩和CPC将提供一项服务，以确定冰层风险，帮助保护北极地区的人员、货物和重要基础设施。

THURN Group Ltd and Cambridge Polar Consultants Ltd are working on the use of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs -- robot submarines) for determining ice hazard risk to shipping and energy installations in the Arctic. As the global climate changes, the polar ice is melting, opening up new shipping routes and easier access to offshore oil and gas vital to the UK and global economies, in seas which are still seasonally ice-bound. This project will investigate the feasibility of using robots to do the work. If the project confirms the feasibility of using robots commercially in the extreme and hazardous environment of the high Arctic, THURN and CPC will provide a service to determine ice risk, to help protect people, goods and vital infrastructure in the Arctic.