Acoustic kayak drone
Informations
- Funding country
Norway- Acronym
- -
- URL
- -
- Start date
- 1/1/2015
- End date
- 12/31/2018
- Budget
- 414,018 EUR
Fundings
| Name | Role | Start | End | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marine Resources and the Environment (MARINFORSK) - call 2016 | Grant | - | - | 414,018 EUR |
Abstract
We have constructed an electric kayak drone equipped with advanced echo sounders mounted on a retractable keel. The drone can be deployed from research vessels or from the shore, using a modified boat trailer. The steering of the drone is facilitated through either wireless remote control or by autonomous operation where the vessel follows a predefined sailing route. All the software systems have been tested during sea trials, this includes motor and remote control, as well as data logging. The first full-scale experiment was carried out west of the Runde bird cliff, Western Norway. The experiment showed that the seabirds did not react to the approaching silent kayak, which made it possible to observe the natural seabird - fish interactions. With the current battery, the sailing range of the kayak drone is approx. 35 km with a sailing speed of about 10 km/h. However, by installing an extra battery in the second available battery chamber, the sailing distance will double. It is possible to extend the range even more by purchasing more powerful batteries, but the kayak hull has to be adopted to these batteries. The kayak drone will be used in the two remaining demonstration tests in November and December 2018. Firstly, the kayak drone will be tested in the fjords near Tromsø on a cruise carried out by Research Vessel G.O. Sars. The purpose of the demonstration is to test and improve the launching and retrieving procedure of the kayak drone from a large vessel. We also plan to use the kayak drone to monitor the avoidance reaction of herring to a sailing research vessel in standard cruise speed. Secondly, the kayak drone will be tested in a sprat cruise in the Sognefjord, western Norway in December 2018. The objective of the test is to make a comparison of acoustic density of sprat measured with a large research ship and the kayak drone. It is expected that the kayak drone will observe more sprat near land and closer to the surface as the kayak drone can operate in shallower waters and more sprat avoid the sailing path of the ship than the silent and smaller kayak drone. Next year, the kayak drone will be tested in the Nordic Council of Ministers project on Hydro-acoustics and Autonomous platforms. IMR is a partner in the project, where the main objective is to use autonomous platforms to monitor coastal ecosystems with a focus on seabird-fish interactions.