What is the reason why the "drone of the sea" in the shape of a yacht navigates the sea?

"Drone" of an unmanned aerial aircraft is utilized for delivery and topography survey, but a yacht type "sea drone" carrying many devices such as solar cells and GPS is on the sea.BloombergIn the movie published on YouTube, we are closing the reason for what the sea drone is sailing over the sea for what purpose.

The Robots Roaming the High Seas - YouTube


San Francisco BayOne yacht sailing on the sea, no one on board. This yacht collects data from the ocean and is expected to bring great benefit to many people soon.


It is Richard Jenkins who manages this yacht.


Mr. Jenkins is a man who likes the challenge, before I was involved in this yachtLand yachtI was challenging the fastest record in the world.


Mr. Jenkins looked back then and said, "Prior to setting up the record, 116 miles per hour (187 km) was the world record, then I was setting the record update as a minimum goal." I will.


Jenkins said that he thought he could update the record in about a year, but he took 10 years to actually update the record.


And in 2009 Jenkins will succeed in running at the speed of 203 km / h, the world's fastest. Since then, this record has not been broken at the time of writing the article.



The next challenge was to go around the world with an unattended yacht.


Mr. Jenkins said, "There has never been an unmanned yacht traveling the world, once it succeeds, it will remain as the record realized for the first time."


And Jenkins creates a robotic yacht that can also go round the world ... ...


In 2013, we will send the world's first autonomously naval unmanned vessel to the sea and successfully navigate from San Francisco to Hawaii.


Mr. Jenkins, who was evaluated for this achievement, received investment of 90 million dollars (about 10 billion yen) from the investor, and in California stateAlamedaA company that creates unmanned yachts "SaildroneEstablished.


Saildrone uses a building that was originally built as an aircraft hanger, and there are 20 unmanned yachts in this building equipped with many devices such as GPS and solar cells.


This yacht can sail for several months ... ...


It is possible to view information obtained by sensors and cameras in real time via satellite.



As of 2018, Saildrone is starting a new activity.


That is to investigate the area called "White Shark Cafe" in the Pacific Ocean.


We know that White Shark Cafe will spend months when the White Sharks gather, but the reason is not well understood. Scientists wanted to know the reason and asked Saildrone for cooperation.



"We will cooperate with Stanford University to direct the unmanned yacht to the White Shark Cafe in order to investigate the ecology of strange white sharks who no one knows.


For such a mission, unmanned yachts are considered ideal. Unmanned yachts are cheaper than large research vessels used for research, and furthermore,Hydrogen ion index(pH),chlorophyll, Humidity, radiation dose, wind speed, temperature, and other measuring instruments, you can collect a lot of information that can be measured near the sea surface.


This information also helps to investigate the "weather" that affects many people.


"Accurate climate data and meteorological data have unlimited value," Jenkins said.


"What we are interested in besides the shark survey is to send these uninhabited yachts to hurricanes and obtain information.When this can be realized, the strength of the hurricane and the expectation of the landing site It will be more accurate. "


"The information obtained can be used for the purpose of ensuring people's safety, but it also has great value as it also leads to minimizing the impact on weather on the financial market."


However, with an ordinary yacht sail, it can not withstand the wind of a hurricane.


So, Saildrone's unmanned yacht employs "hard and vertical sails" Jenkins used previously in the land yacht.


In addition, small sails behind the sails to control the propulsion of the yachttabWas installed.


This tab has the effect of suppressing the yacht from becoming uncontrollable by strong wind etc. And even if you encounter a scene where a normal yacht can not control posture, the robot can easily control the state of the yacht, so it will be possible to carry out accurate navigation.


It is the day that Mr. Jenkins will direct two unmanned yachts to White Shark Cafe.


As there is not much wind in San Francisco Bay, we will tow by the ship until the yacht arrives at a point where you can get enough wind to autonomously navigate.


Mr. Jenkins, who confirmed the condition of the wind on the tablet terminal, said, "There are enough winds now, you can start the voyage," he told reporters in Bloomberg ... ...


While talking to the yacht saying "Okay," unroll the tow rope.



Then, the yacht starts sailing toward its destination. Jenkins taught the state of the yacht "The unmanned yacht is already sailing in full autonomous mode".


A reporter in Bloomberg said, "If the unmanned yacht is sailing 200,000 nautical miles (about 370,000 km) so far, did not there be any accident ...?"


"Yes, I have operated an unmanned yacht for four years, there is not a single wound," Jenkins replied.


Then the reporter says, "The ship that seemed to collide with your unattended yacht will not panic if you call on the yacht, so I think the crew will panic." Is the unmanned yacht in the vicinity I will cast a little mean question as to whether there is no possibility of causing an accident by not being able to communicate with the ship.


On the other hand, Jenkins is confident in the safety of the unmanned yacht, "Yachts are acting safely even if the boat is near."


"The data provided by these unmanned yachts will make the data of the ocean we have more reliable, which will lead to a change in the understanding of the earth," Bloomberg said The reporter tells us and concludes the movie.