Wet feet for our maritime swarm vessels, as they perform their first trials in the framework of the project #MCM_MULTIMETER and #DFR_MAIWA. Keep an eye on our pages for future updates.
#MaritimeRobotics
Join us for one last dive with the @MARUM ROV QUEST,
today we will map a black smoker, to see the changes that happened since we last visited it a few days ago. Then we will transit to a skeleton we found two days ago.
Another dive with the @MARUM ROV QUEST, another live stream 😊
You might recognise some of the sights. This dive we will do a lot of mosaic work (note the flashing in the rear view cam) and we will try to take some push cores so our foraminifera scientists can get some samples 🤗
There is also a small mystery we are trying to solve, I think that is all I can say 🤫 you might be able to hear it from the science conversation
https://www.marum.de/en/Telepresence-of-MARUM-QUEST-dive.html
#maritimeRobotics #ocean #research
We are taking another sample from an amazing black smoker, at over 300 degrees C! The wire is needed to control a motor at the start and end of the sample taking procedure, the rope is there to make sure there is no tension on the wire, and the markers are there to help the pilots make sure the cable is not damaged while moving the device with the arm.
The view of the hot water, the structure that were formed and the black smoke is amazing!
#maritimeRobotics #ocean #research
As you can see, there is little to see. It is amazing that we can find the comparatively small vent systems. It is important that the acoustic positioning system is accurate, otherwise we are looking for a needle in a haystack.
#maritimeRobotics #ocean #research
We are now doing a longer transit to another site. The site is ca. 40m less deep, the pilots are following the terrain, my colleague in the workshop container is adjusting the umbilical with the winch and the ship is moving with us as well.
Have a look at the lookdown camera, this is one of the most important cameras I use during flight.
The current sampling tool, ‚KIPS‘ has a temperature sensor and an inlet at the tip that is being held into hot fluid. The inlet is connected to a pump that sucks water into a sampling bottle and the temperature sensor is giving us life data. One sample takes ten minutes, but the area with a high enough temperature is very small, so the pilots have to keep the arm very still while sucking up 200deg C hot water.
#maritimeRobotics #ocean #research
And the stream is now live!
As far as I know, this time the audio is the conversation between a larger group of scientists in the conference room and one of the two scientists who are with the ROV Pilots in the control container.
https://www.marum.de/en/Telepresence-of-MARUM-QUEST-dive.html
After waiting out some waves unsuited for ROV deployment and recovery, we are preparing a dive again tomorrow 🌊
#maritimeRobotics #ocean #research
The audio in the live stream today is the conversation between the pilots and the scientists, there are some interesting moments where you can get an understanding of the planning that is happening while the camera view is relatively boring.
Greetings from another break, after pulling three Niskon bottle triggers with the robot arm 🦾
After three types of fluid sampling, my colleagues are now mapping the black smoker visually for 3D reconstruction.
#maritimeRobotics #ocean #research
Right now we have a really amazing view of a black smoker in the Zeus Camera. The camera is mounted very low on the ROV, giving you a direct view of the sampling site. You can see fast flowing hot liquid and how it changes as the hot water with various dissolved materials reacts with the colder surrounding water. This leads to the dissolved material precipitating, resulting in the black ‚smoke‘ you can see in the other cameras.
#maritimeRobotics #ocean #research
After an early ROV start at 4AM I am taking my first break, but for everyone else the ROV MARUM QUEST live stream will start earlier today:
https://www.youtube.com/live/BeFz4y_f6pA
We are visiting ‚black smoker‘ and ‚black smoker‘ 😆, taking fluid samples with two sampling methods and recording a photo mosaic.
The english version of the link to the live stream from the seafloor, including some extra information on the research:
https://www.marum.de/en/Live-dive-MSM131.html
Coming live to you from 77deg N, 7deg E and 2950 m depth - tell your friends, your family, your pets and show your gold fish 😜
Have I mentioned yet that the water temperature of the surrounding water can be as low as -0.6 deg C? We are in arctic waters, challenging the ROV MARUM QUEST with extremely hot and extremely cold water. You might not see it, but the ROV pilots doing the operations can tell that our hydraulics are cold, while having their view obfuscated by the shimmering of hot water rising from the deepth throug the sea floor.
#maritimeRobotics #ocean #research
As the sampling is ongoing I am observing my colleagues, taking notes what software improvements (and bug fixes - let's not pretend our new developments are perfect from the start) can make their complex work a little easier. The sensors we use are unique tools developed for specific scientific sampling, typically we are still making changes while on the ship.
#maritimeRobotics #ocean #research
@GregCocks if you want to get a live view of the dives to the newly discovered vents, now is your chance!
#maritimeRobotics #ocean #research
https://www.marum.de/Live-Tauchgang-MSM131.html
As far as I can tell we are now live, sampling over 200 deg C hot water ('shimmering water') at 2900m depth while balancing the ROV on a tiny ridge.
When we change position you might catch a glimpse of structures I would describe as 'upside down waterfalls'
Not sure if this little drawing makes sense to others or if the ROV is recognisable but I had fun doodling it on a parcel and maybe it makes someone smile. #maritimeRobotics
Ah, found the answer. ROV SuBerto has variable buoyancy control (vbc).
Using compressed air for buoyancy control is something I have come across in the context of AUVs, and buoyancy control in general on ARGO floats and gliders. So here I am on another side quest. I found a 2015 paper presenting a system for a crawler, in th introduction pointing out that vbc is rarely used on ROVs. I can’t find mention of SuBastian using VBC, but some ROVs on mbari.org are equipped with it. #maritimeRobotics
My first calm weekend after the expeditions, I am finally trying the #ROVsimulator by @subROV! First of all, it is funny to do the bridge and deck crew jobs, positioning the ship and the A-Frame myself. Saves me from misunderstandings, like when my brain filled in our lab phone number instead of the 310 degree heading I wanted, so I asked for 910 degree heading (and was subsequently ridiculed for the rest of the day 🤣) #maritimeRobotics
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