iRobot Looking for Chemical Dispersants in Gulf

iRobot reported that its SeaGlider, an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) has been deployed to the Gulf of Mexico. There the SeaGlider will track the chemical dispersants that have been sprayed to break up the oil spill.

The SeaGlider, which will go to depths of 700 meters and below in search of the controversial dispersants, will more than likely be closely monitored by Dr. Vernon Asper of the Marine Science Department at the University of Southern Mississippi and Dr. Craig Lee from the University of Washington’s Applied Physics Laboratory. According to iRobot, these two scientists will work with iRobot on the gulf mission.

The journey of the buoyancy-powered glider is expected to not only open up the secrets of the dark oil cloud that lingers below the ocean surface, but also open up new markets. According to Joe Dyer, president of iRobot’s Government and Industrial Robots division, “With SeaGlider, we are realizing new and important mission profiles that it can support. Traditionally, gliders have proven themselves to be very useful tools for researchers and oceanographers to collect ocean data. We are pleased that SeaGlider is now playing an important role in the recent Gulf efforts. With this technology, we also see potential for the oil and gas industries to monitor existing lines and to detect new offshore oil sources.”

Underscoring the primary task of the mission was Dr. Vernon Asper, “It is important to track any hydrocarbons that might remain at depths for extended periods of time. Previous data suggests that there may be some of this material at depths below 700 meters and that it appears to be moving. We are working with iRobot to deploy SeaGlider in these locations, and we expect to learn a tremendous amount about the path and ultimate fate of this material.”

The iRobot SeaGlider, one of many types of UUVs that iRobot offers, will be able to monitor, analyze and track the flow of the black cloud of chemical dispersants for about 14 months before its batteries run out. During that time it will surface at periodic intervals to transmit its data to satellite and Internet connections.