iD Ideas Discoveries March 2017

HOWDOYOUSCANANOCEANFORINFLATABLEDINGHIES?

Every day thousands of refugees set

sail across the Mediterranean Sea to

reach Europe. Only a fraction are picked up

bysatellitesalongtheway,and the small

rubberboatseasilyslipunder the radar of

patrol vessels. This is what the Wave Glider

will prevent. And the unmanned seafaring

robotic vehicles are by no means a project

for the distant future — quite the contrary.

The small autonomous vessels, which are

equipped with the most modern underwater

microphones that scan the ocean for boats

exhibiting “abnormal behavior,” are already

being tested in the course of a mission of

the European border-control agency Frontex.

As soon as a Wave Glider detects suspicious

waterborne sounds, it can send out signals

to other Wave Gliders in the network in real

time, communicate with satellites, or send

emails to a control center on the mainland.

This technology will allow refugee boats to

be tracked down in international waters and

then collected by the patrol boats of the

countries from which they departed.

Project: Wave Glider

Mar 2017 16 ideasanddiscoveries.com

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