THEODORE, AL–(ENEWSPF)–August 27, 2010. As part of its long term monitoring and research program in the Gulf of Mexico, BP is deploying a new technology that will enable nearly constant monitoring by two satellite-controlled, unmanned vehicles.
The vehicles, known as Wave Gliders and developed by Liquid Robotics in Silicon Valley, California, get their propulsion power from wave action and use solar power for their electronics. They will be deployed beginning today and begin a months-long, ongoing research program in the Gulf of Mexico.
“These vehicles will provide us a steady stream of data about water quality and should significantly increase the available data for ongoing research activity,” said Mike Utsler, chief operating office of BP’s Gulf Coast Restoration Organization. “We will initially deploy the Wave Gliders between the Macondo well and the shoreline, and look to expand from there in the future.”
