Possibilities for the future of Bonefish and the Get A Grip Project

During our meeting with Dr. Vaughan, senior scientist at MOTE Marine Lab, mentioned the XPRIZE competition that he competed for and is now a judge of. Two of the XPRIZE competitions are on coral reef restoration and coral reef survival. Both competitions tie into what the lab wants to accomplish with the LASR Bonefish and Get a Grip project.

These competitions are sponsored by Wendy Schmidt, who is the president of the Schmidt Ocean Institute. I have been researching their data collection systems, ROVs, and missions. The Institute has a research vessel called Falkor, which is equipped with various scientific instruments, similar to what we hope to collect with the LASR Bonefish.

Aboard the R/V Falkor, they have a ROV called SUBastian. SUBastian is a tethered RC Submarine with the capability to dive 4500m. Aboard the SUBastian, they have sample collection systems and various instruments to collect data. Some advanced features that the SUBastian has that we are looking at adding to the LASR Bonefish includes a 6 DOF claw, underwater mapping sensors, and water quality sensors.

The SUBastian uses hydrolics to controll the arm precisely under extream pressure. Their claw also has a vacume system to collect samples that they cannot pick up. Originally the Get a Grip Project goals included collecting and planting coral. These features would be a possible route for controlling the arm and collecting.