One Million Nautical Miles at Sea for Wave Gliders
Liquid Robotics’ fleets of Wave Gliders have reached one million nautical miles at sea, which the company describes as a milestone for the unmanned surface vehicle (USV) industry. The Wave Glider has completed missions from the Arctic to the Southern Ocean, operated through 17 hurricanes/typhoons and achieved a Guinness World Record for the ‘longest journey by an autonomous, unmanned surface vehicle on the planet’. One million nautical miles is the equivalent to 1.29 times a round trip to the moon (at the moon’s furthest point) or approximately 46 times around the world.
Over the past decade, government and commercial organisations have turned to unmanned ocean robots to lower the costs and risks and improve ocean access, allowing better measurement, monitoring and understanding of maritime environments. In the defence, oil & gas and scientific markets, Wave Gliders have been deployed to extend the range and effectiveness of traditional observation and surveillance systems. Missions have been conducted in all five major oceans collecting and communicating environmental, security, weather and seismic data.
