This article was first published on the IEC e-tech website.

Rapid advances in technology are revolutionizing the roles of aerial, terrestrial and maritime robotic systems in disaster relief, search and rescue (SAR) and salvage operations. Robots and drones can be deployed quickly in areas deemed too unsafe for humans and are used to guide rescuers, collect data, deliver essential supplies or provide communication services.

Since the launch of the Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in San Francisco in December 2015, individuals from around the world have been racing to form Teams and develop a range of groundbreaking technologies to access the deep-sea. Registration closed at the end of September 2016 with 32 bold Teams stepping forward to take on the challenge of mapping and imaging our ocean as never before.

Meet the submersibles and seaborne machines helping to monitor climate change in our oceans. Originally posted on Horizon: The EU research and innovation magazine.

QR-codes that provide autonomous vessels with traffic information on buoys, ships or port buildings. Algorithms for controlling a ship’s unexpected movements. Fleets of autonomous ships that are monitored from on-shore control centres. Researchers at Delft University of Technology are working on the future of shipping. They envision a naval world that will be drastically different from today’s shipping industry.

Dan Gettinger updates us on the recent developments in underwater drone technology.