The SOLO-TREC (Sounding Oceanographic Lagrangrian Observer Thermal RECharging) is a
profiling float that uses a novel thermal recharging engine powered by the natural temperature differences found at different ocean depths to cycle up and down in the ocean.
The research and prototype were developed by researchers at the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center in the City of La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States.
Founded in the 1930s by Caltech researchers, JPL is owned by NASA an ...
in
Pasadena
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district.
...
, CA, and the
Scripps Institution of Oceanography in
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...
, CA. The project name stands for "Sounding Oceanographic Lagrangrian Observer Thermal RECharging" vehicle.
[Vu, Q. "Jet Propulsion Laboratory", July 25, 2011]
Nasa Site
Retrieved July 2011
History
Research and technology development for SOLO-TREC began in 2004 with funding provided by JPL Research & Technology Development program (2005–2007) and the
Office of Naval Research (2008–2010).
[ On November 30, 2009, the first SOLO-TREC prototype was deployed 161 kilometers southwest of ]Honolulu
Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...
by a group of scientists and engineers from JPL and Scripps.[
]
Design
The original prototype weighed 84 kilograms, dived autonomously to depths of 500 meters, and generated 1.7 watt-hours of energy per dive.[ SOLO-TREC draws upon the ocean's thermal energy as it alternately encounters warm surface water and colder conditions at depth.][Hambling, D. "Popular Mechanics", April 10, 201]
Article
Retrieved July 2011 Key to its operation are the carefully selected waxy substances known as phase-change material
A phase change material (PCM) is a substance which releases/absorbs sufficient energy at phase transition to provide useful heat or cooling. Generally the transition will be from one of the first two fundamental states of matter - solid and liq ...
s that are contained in 10 external tubes, which house enough material to allow net power generation.[Guevin, J. "CNET", April 5, 2010]
News
Retrieved July 2011 As the float surfaces and encounters warm temperatures, the material melts and expands; when it dives and enters cooler waters, the material solidifies and contracts.[ The expansion of the wax pressurizes oil stored inside the float.][ This oil periodically drives a hydraulic motor that generates electricity and recharges the vehicle's batteries.][ Energy from the rechargeable batteries powers the float's hydraulic system, which changes the float's volume (and hence buoyancy), allowing it to move vertically.][
]
Recent Developments
SOLO-TREC has completed more than 450 dives from the ocean surface to a depth of 500 meters (1,640 feet) and is reporting temperature and salinity profiles three times per day.[ Designers control the depth to which the instrument dives through its hydraulic system. Its thermal recharging engine produces about 1.7 watt-hours, or 6,100 joules, of energy per dive, enough electricity to operate the vehicle’s science instruments, ]GPS receiver
A satellite navigation device (satnav device) is a user equipment that uses one or more of several global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) to calculate the device's geographical position and provide navigational advice.
Depending on the ...
, communications device and buoyancy-control pump.[ SOLO-TREC has the potential to replace current ocean monitoring currently done by 3,200 battery-powered Argo floats deployed previously to measure temperature, salinity, and velocity. The US Navy is also exploring the use of thermal recharging technology for the next generation of autonomous submersible vehicles. Scalable for use on most robotic oceanographic vehicles, this technology breakthrough could usher in a new generation of autonomous underwater vehicles capable of virtually indefinite ocean monitoring for climate and marine animal studies, exploration and surveillance.][
]
References
{{Reflist
External links
SOLO-TREC Home Page
Submarines
Robots of the United States