New AUV Center for Antarctic Technology
A new autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) facility will be built at the University of Tasmania's Australian Maritime College specializing in polar technology.
“This facility will be a hub for world-class AUV research and technology. Through local and international collaborations, we aim to develop new data collection capabilities, improve reliability and increase autonomy of underwater vehicles,” AUV Facility Coordinator Peter King said.
“One of these projects, the Antarctic Gateway Partnership, will see us acquire and develop an AUV that tackles the great engineering challenges of venturing far beneath ice-covered waters to further our understanding of the Antarctic’s role in the world’s climate.”
The facility's fleet of autonomous robots includes UBC-Gavia, Mullaya and the soon-to-be-procured Antarctic Gateway Partnership AUV.
The $24 million Antarctic Gateway Partnership is a Special Research Initiative of the Australian Research Council bringing together the University of Tasmania, CSIRO and the Australian Antarctic Division to build further polar research capability in Tasmania as a gateway for Antarctic research, education, innovation and logistics.
Key objectives of the Partnership include:
• Developing a next-generation, hybrid, polar AUV/ROV to acquire high resolution data under sea ice and ice shelves;
• Providing a near real-time sea ice charting service to vessels operating in the East Antarctic and conducting research to support sea ice forecasting;
• Advancing understanding of how the oceans melt Antarctic ice shelves, and quantifying present and future Antarctic Ice Sheet mass loss and its contribution to sea-level rise;
• Building understanding of environmental controls on marine life, ranging from pelagic microbes to benthic communities using various sampling platforms, lab-based microbial culture experiments, habitat and life history assessments of mesopelagics, and regional process studies; and
• Assessing the contribution of the Antarctic Ice Sheet to sea level since the Last Glacial Maximum (~20,000 years ago) via geophysical observations and modelling.
The Antarctic Gateway Partnership has contributed $3.6 million in funding for the new AUV and four of the new staff positions, with a further $3.75 million and one staff position contributed by the Australian Maritime College.
Launceston firm Artas Architects were tasked with designing a facility big enough to accommodate the Antarctic Gateway Partnership AUV, which will measure up to eight meters (26-feet) long, weigh three tons and be capable of transiting more than 100 kilometers (62 miles) while collecting data from the sea floor at depths of about 4000-5000m (three miles), and beneath ice shelves and sea ice.
Building works are expected to be completed in late 2016.
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