FAQs Archive

Q: D.26 How does the underwater robot withstand extreme ocean pressures?

We design for this using pressure vessels to protect the components and, in other cases, oil-compensate when the internal electronics are pressure tolerant but need to be isolated from the seawater. These are both common techniques for design in underwater robots.

Q: D.25 How do harsh marine weather conditions affect the reliability and efficiency of underwater robot deployment and recovery operations?

A common practice for docking autonomous underwater vehicles is securing them below the water's surface so surface waves do not impact them and changing weather conditions. We are using this approach for the underwater robot's recovery operations. Our techno-economic models assume 40 days a year when we are in a ‘weather hold’ condition and cannot operate.

Q: D.24 What will the effect of temperature and salinity be on the underwater robot?

Temperature and salinity at the depths at which we operate are very consistent. This impacts the index of refraction for our optical and acoustic systems, and variation in these values at the depth and through the water column is compensated for during operation.

Q: D.23 What recovery protocols are in place if the underwater robot loses communication with the operating center?

The mission is downloaded to the underwater robot at the start of the mission. We don’t need real-time communication. In an emergency, the robot will go to the surface and use WiFi or satellite communication to communicate with the operating center.

Q: D.22 What communication protocols enable data exchange between the underwater robot and its mothership/operating center?

An acoustic link (USBL) transmits basic telemetry and status information between the underwater robots and the surface ship. Due to the low bandwidth of the acoustic link, we are limited in terms of what data is transmitted while the robots are submerged. Once a robot has surfaced as part of its on-deck servicing, the onboard data is transferred off the robot and into the on-ship data center. Data is exchanged between the ship and the cloud-based servers via TCP/IP connection over satellite.

Q: D.21 What is the data storage capacity of the underwater robot?

Many terabytes of storage will be available onboard the underwater robots, providing more data storage capacity than is required. Additionally, redundancy will be in place to protect against corrupted drive failures.

D.26 How does the underwater robot withstand extreme ocean pressures?

Holly Nielsen2025-03-10T14:16:07-07:00December 11th, 2024|

D.25 How do harsh marine weather conditions affect the reliability and efficiency of underwater robot deployment and recovery operations?

Holly Nielsen2025-03-10T14:15:24-07:00December 11th, 2024|

D.26 How does the underwater robot withstand extreme ocean pressures?

D.25 How do harsh marine weather conditions affect the reliability and efficiency of underwater robot deployment and recovery operations?

D.24 What will the effect of temperature and salinity be on the underwater robot?

D.23 What recovery protocols are in place if the underwater robot loses communication with the operating center?

D.22 What communication protocols enable data exchange between the underwater robot and its mothership/operating center?

D.21 What is the data storage capacity of the underwater robot?

Impossible Metals

STAY INFORMED

Connect with Us

Policies

STAY INFORMED

Connect with Us

Impossible Metals

Policies