Robohub.org
 

3’600-strong underwater robot sensor network returns 1’000’000th measurement, has scientists craving for more


by
05 February 2013



share this:
Apex_deployment_Germany

The Argo project, which has deployed a network of more than 3’600 robots covering all of the world’s oceans, has returned it’s 1’000’000th measurement.

The yellow underwater robots with their characteristic cylindrical body topped by an antenna have now been successfully used for more than 10 years for precise, long-term measurements of ocean temperatures and salt content. The robots stay submerged for up to 10 days at a time, drifting with ocean currents at a specified depth, or rising and falling in pre-defined paths down to depths of 2000 meters. Upon surfacing, they send their recorded data and current position home via satellite link. The recorded data are then made freely available online in near real-time.

argo network - 2011-02-countries

The gigantic network of robot sensors has resulted in a wealth of data, with more than 100 scientific papers published a year. However, it seems scientists on the project agree that Argo’s 10 year data set is not yet long enough to draw reliable conclusions for global change signals such as a global rise in ocean temperatures.

Here are some photos that explain the process:

Arvor_iridium Robohub - Argo csection Robohub - Argo floatcyclescaled Robohub - Argo operation_park_profile

Photos: Argo project



tags: , , , , , , ,


Markus Waibel is a Co-Founder and COO of Verity Studios AG, Co-Founder of Robohub and the ROBOTS Podcast.
Markus Waibel is a Co-Founder and COO of Verity Studios AG, Co-Founder of Robohub and the ROBOTS Podcast.





Related posts :



Apertus: a fully open, transparent, multilingual language model

  11 Sep 2025
EPFL, ETH Zurich and the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS) released Apertus today, Switzerland’s first large-scale, open, multilingual language model.

Robots to the rescue: miniature robots offer new hope for search and rescue operations

  09 Sep 2025
Small two-wheeled robots, equipped with high-tech sensors, will help to find survivors faster in the aftermath of disasters.

#IJCAI2025 distinguished paper: Combining MORL with restraining bolts to learn normative behaviour

and   04 Sep 2025
The authors introduce a framework for guiding reinforcement learning agents to comply with social, legal, and ethical norms.

Researchers are teaching robots to walk on Mars from the sand of New Mexico

  02 Sep 2025
Researchers are closer to equipping a dog-like robot to conduct science on the surface of Mars

Engineering fantasy into reality

  26 Aug 2025
PhD student Erik Ballesteros is building “Doc Ock” arms for future astronauts.

RoboCup@Work League: Interview with Christoph Steup

and   22 Aug 2025
Find out more about the RoboCup League focussed on industrial production systems.

Interview with Haimin Hu: Game-theoretic integration of safety, interaction and learning for human-centered autonomy

and   21 Aug 2025
Hear from Haimin in the latest in our series featuring the 2025 AAAI / ACM SIGAI Doctoral Consortium participants.

AIhub coffee corner: Agentic AI

  15 Aug 2025
The AIhub coffee corner captures the musings of AI experts over a short conversation.



 

Robohub is supported by:




Would you like to learn how to tell impactful stories about your robot or AI system?


scicomm
training the next generation of science communicators in robotics & AI


 












©2025.05 - Association for the Understanding of Artificial Intelligence