Nereus (robot)

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Nereus

The Nereus (after . Greek god of the sea Nereus ) was a deep sea robot of WHOI and was on the SWATH - research vessel Kilo Moana the USN used. The robot reached the bottom of the Mariana Trench on May 31, 2009 at a depth of 10,902 meters . On May 9, 2014, Nereus imploded in the Kermadec Trench .

construction

The $ 5 million diving robot was built on an aluminum frame in which the individual components were embedded. The sensitive instruments such as cameras and electronics were protected from the high pressure by ceramic covers. The buoyancy was ensured by hollow ceramic balls. The lithium-ion batteries , which last for 1½ days, and sonar devices were also built into the frame . The surroundings of the robot could be illuminated for the cameras up to 3 meters away with LED headlights. The Nereus weighed around 2.8 tons.

Nereus was developed by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University and the US Navy Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center .

commitment

At the time of its development, no underwater vehicle existed that was able to reach the deepest parts of the world's oceans. The two vehicles that had done this before were both no longer in use. Nereus was to become a vehicle with which it would be possible routinely and at manageable costs to head for the deepest parts of the world's oceans. Nereus had its first test runs in 2007.

The Nereus was a hybrid of ROV and AUV . It had accumulators with which it usually acted independently for up to 20 hours, but it was also possible to connect it to a 40 kilometer long fiber optic cable through which it could carry data like chemical analyzes or images sent to the surface. The cable was a new development because the communication cables previously used for deep-sea research could only carry their own weight up to a depth of around 7000 meters.

As an AUV , Nereus independently mapped the sea ​​floor by driving it down according to defined patterns. He also took photographs at regular intervals. In ROV mode, however, it was controlled via the cable. An aluminum platform could also be attached to it, on which additional cameras and scientific equipment were attached. A hydraulically driven manipulator was installed in order to be able to take samples from the seabed .

After the Trieste of Jacques Piccard and Kaikō, Nereus was the third vehicle to explore the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench .

The project was supported by the National Science Foundation all funded. The Office of Naval Research , the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , the Russell Family Foundation, and the WHOI also covered costs.

loss

On May 9, 2014, the submersible was lost during a mission in the Kermadec Trench off New Zealand. The accident happened during a 40-day expedition. The day the diving robot imploded was the day with the deepest diving depths of the project. At first communication with Nereus was lost - an event that had already occurred several times - but then individual parts appeared on the surface of the water.

An implosion occurred at a depth of 10 kilometers at the bottom of the Kermadec trench. Nereus last operated from the US research vessel R / V Thomas G. Thompson. After an initial investigation, the cause is assumed to be that the diving robot could no longer withstand the pressure in the depths.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Bowen et al. P. 1
  2. ↑ a b Bowen et al. P. 2
  3. ^ Website of the manufacturer Kraft Telerobotics, Inc on the use of the manipulator on Nereus
  4. ↑ A look into the deepest abyss on focus.de
  5. ^ Adrienne Lafrance: Goodbye Forever, Beloved Robot , The Atlantic May 14, 2014
  6. ↑ Ken Kostel: A sad day , Hadal Ecosystem Studies May 10, 2014
  7. ↑ Report about the destruction of the Nereus ( Spiegel Online )
  8. ↑ faznet, accessed on June 3, 2014