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Surfing Robot Tracks Great White Sharks

Posted by Soulskill on from the well-obviously dept.

ackthpt writes "A network of fixed buoys and solar powered surfing robots called Wave Gliders are set to track Great White Sharks in the Pacific, off the California coast near San Francisco, between Monterey Bay and Tomales Point. According to PhysOrg, 'The self-propelled wave and solar-powered glider is part of a new network of data receivers on fixed buoys will pick up signals from acoustic tags on animals passing within 1,000 feet and transmit the data to a research team on shore, led by Stanford University Marine Sciences Prof. Barbara Block.' Related to the project is 'Shark Net,' a new iOS app 'available free of charge at the Apple app store, created by Dr. Block and her colleagues with developers from TOPP, EarthNC and Gaia GPS to enable a direct, personal connection between the public and wild marine animals and to raise public awareness of the ocean wilderness teeming with life just off North America's West Coast.'"

12 comments

  1. Yeah but do they have by Spy+Handler · · Score: -1

    lasers?

    1. Re:Yeah but do they have by ackthpt · · Score: 1

      lasers?

      I considered it, but it's a little overplayed and the likelihood of the Powers That Be at /. letting it slide (again) were pretty remote (they didn't allow it the first time I tried a shark related article, either.)

      I really like the little solar powered surfboard, though. I'd like one just a bit bigger with a cooler on board.

      --

      A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    2. Re:Yeah but do they have by deapbluesea · · Score: 1

      I really like the little solar powered surfboard, though. I'd like one just a bit bigger with a cooler on board

      Just went to a talk on those Wave Gliders by James Gosling (yes, that James Gosling). They're pretty cool little robots, but technically they don't surf. One of the questions asked by the audience was about scaling up the size of the robots. Mr. Gosling used the Nyquist Sampling Theorem to discuss why bigger would result in less power from the waves since the robot's locomotion is essentially based on spatially sampling wave height. Not to say there is an optimal size since sea state varies quite a bit, but the company has definitely thought about size and decided smaller is better. (cue horde of juvenile size jokes...)

      --
      Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.
  2. What, no lasers? by davidwr · · Score: 0

    Well, at least the first article listed at the bottom has the word "laser" in it: "ChemCam laser sets its sights on first Martian target".

    If a human being decided to put that article there, I have to say "well played sir, well played."

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
  3. goddamned bait-and-switch! by Thud457 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Surfing Robot Tracks Great White Sharks

    that was nowhere near as cool as I imagined it.

    --

    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

    1. Re:goddamned bait-and-switch! by SomePgmr · · Score: 3, Informative

      Yeah, this other one from today was way awesomer.

      http://blog.makezine.com/2012/08/17/arduino-controlled-shark-detection-system/

    2. Re:goddamned bait-and-switch! by Thud457 · · Score: 1

      I mean, once you've programmed a robot to ride a surfboard, having it harpoon sharks should be trivial.

      Come on CalTech, I heard MIT's already got one!


      great, a quick google image search, and now I can't get Whitney Houston out of my head.

      --

      the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

  4. So last year by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Call me when they're updated to use cloud-based synergy.

  5. Ours are proactive! by clockt · · Score: 1

    The sharks off the West Australian coast are much more proactive; we count ours by the number of people they eat. We're at 5 in the last 12 months, and counting. Personally, I don't blame them given the treatment they get by the soup makers.

  6. So... by PostPhil · · Score: 0

    Is it laser guided?

  7. These robots? by fard69 · · Score: 1

    http://stuffilikenet.wordpress.com/2011/10/12/surfing-samurai-robots/

  8. mobile phones, er, i mean trackers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why don't they just give these sharks that they want to track mobile phones?