There’s more than just pretty looking and clean ships for the Office of Naval Research’s plan to have autonomous robots scrub the hulls of its vessels. The clean vessels will be able to move faster and have a greater fuel efficiency, this automatically translates into money saved and emissions reduced, and since the robot will be able to do its job while the ship is on voyage, maintenance costs will go down as well.
The frontrunner robot for the job is the Bio-inspired Underwater Grooming (or BUG). This one uses suction to remain stuck to the vessel, while its biofilm detectors and flourometers help it clean up the grime and barnacles while under water. The Navy plans to have these bots report on duty for all its vessels by 2015.
Via: Dvice
