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Autonomous Underwater Robot Maintains Navy's Commitment to Environment

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS090826-12
Release Date: 8/26/2009 4:18:00 PM

From Office of Naval Research Corporate Strategic Communications

ARLINGTON, Va. (NNS) -- The Office of Naval Research (ONR) is a front runner in supporting and bringing forth innovative solutions to fuel consumption.

"One of the avoidable costs in fuel for the Navy is related to marine fouling such as barnacles that accumulate on ships," said ONR Program Officer Steve McElvany. "They create increased drag as these ships move from port to port across the world's oceans."

Known as a "hard fouler" for ships worldwide, colonized barnacles and biofilms on the hull of a Navy ship translate into roughly 500 million dollars annually in extra maintenance and fuel costs that are required to keep ships free of barnacles, oysters, algae and other marine life.

In fact, the Naval Surface Warfare Center at Carderock (NSWCCD) estimates that biofouling reduces vessel speed by up to 10 percent. Vessels can require as much as a 40 percent increase in fuel consumption to counter the added drag.

The Naval Materials Division of ONR's Sea Warfare and Weapons Department is sponsoring the research on environmentally safe antifouling solutions which is developing this innovation, an autonomous underwater hull grooming robot.

The best way to stop barnacles from colonizing is don't let them settle and colonize on the hull in the first place. With that in mind, ONR recently conducted tests with a developmental ship hull grooming robot, called the Robotic Hull Bio-inspired Underwater Grooming tool or Hull BUG. The tests showed that this little groomer, similar in concept to a autonomous robotic home vacuum cleaner or lawn mower has a lot of promise.

Used to groom ships in port, the Hull BUG removes the marine biofilm and other marine organisms before they get solidly attached. This is especially important because Navy ships spend more than 50 percent of their service life in port, giving barnacles and marine life ample time to become settled and, if allowed, to further colonize and grow on the ship's hull.

Underscoring the benefits of combining the Hull BUG with newly developed environmentally benign antifouling hull coatings, the Navy will save millions of dollars per year in fuel. Using less fuel also means less carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

ONR developed the Hull BUG and the antifouling hull coatings through its investments in new and innovative science and technology (S&T) aimed at building the Navy and Marine Corps' future force, maintaining warfighting readiness and ensuring warfighting dominance for today's Sailors and Marines. While originally focused on reducing the use of toxic antifouling hull paints, these investments have also yielded technology breakthroughs that reduce the use of fossil fuels and emission of greenhouse gas in the form of carbon dioxide and facilitate the Navy's commitment to environmental stewardship.

Partners in ONR's development of the Hull BUG include NSWCCD, SeaRobotics and the Florida Institute of Technology. ONR's partnerships provide the key to success for this innovative research and countless enhancements to our warfighter's capabilities. Since 1946, ONR has funded revolutionary research through academia, universities, government laboratories, nonprofit and for-profit organizations and nearly 60 Nobel Laureates.

Like other ONR projects, Hull BUG benefits will extend beyond the Navy. Basically any boat longer than 45 feet, which is in the water all the time, can benefit from this kind of technology.

Just like the Navy, the savings to the commercial shipping industry stand to be significant in terms of fuel efficiency and in reducing emissions associated with ship operations in our world's oceans.

The Department of the Navy's Office of Naval Research provides the S&T necessary to maintain the Navy and Marine Corps' technological advantage. Through its affiliates, ONR is a leader in S&T with engagement in 50 states, 70 countries, 1035 institutions of higher learning, and 914 industry partners. ONR employs approximately 1400 people, comprised of uniformed, civilian and contract personnel.

For more news from Office of Naval Research, visit www.navy.mil/local/onr/.