Emerging Technologies in Antarctica

Type of content
Theses / Dissertations
Publisher's DOI/URI
Thesis discipline
Science
Degree name
Postgraduate Certificate in Antarctic Studies
Publisher
University of Canterbury
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Language
English
Date
2005
Authors
Sickinger, David
Abstract

The International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2008 is fast approaching. The concept of IPY 2007/08 is to have an intense, internationally coordinated campaign of polar observations, research, and analysis to improve the understanding of the polar regions and their relationship to the global climate system. Both the International Council for Science (ICSU) and the U.S. National Committee for the IPY 2007-2008 encourage the development of innovative technologies to expand the range of polar instruments and equipment available for use, including technologies such as autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), rovers, and uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAVs) [ICSU04][USNC04]. These three technology areas are the focus of this review. The [CarC)1] paper lists ways in which autonomous rovers would be able to significantly contribute to science tasks in the future, they are: Mapping detailed and tedious routes: areas that require dense observations Polar night: observe surface processes that occur in the dark of polar winter Hazardous routes: traversing dangerous sea ice Extremely remote routes: reach areas where even airborne support is difficult Simple instrumentation acquisition: where manned traverses can't be justified Instrumentation requiring slow traverse: magnetometer and gravimeter data Augment manned scientific traverse: rovers on different path for 2-D statistics Measurements without pollutants: solar powered for chemical investigations Autonomous rovers will continue to evolve over time which will increase their potential to contribute in a significant way to science in Antarctica. There have been two previous GCAS literature reviews that have dealt with robotics in Antarctica. The first was from the GCAS 1998/1999 course titled "Robots and their place in Antarctica" [Nob99]. This review covered the robot Dante I which attempted to explore the crater of Mt. Erebus in 1992 and the early testing of the Nomad robot which was designed to find meteorites in Antarctica. The second GCAS review was titled "Antarctica: A Test Bed for Space Exploration" from the 2002/03 course [Chi03]. It also reported on Dante I and the Nomad project but also covered remotely operated vehicle (ROV) sub experiments, the Antarctica Ice Borehole Probe which investigated drilled ice holes, and discussed the possibility of drilling into Lake Vostok. This review avoids duplicating these past GCAS reviews and focuses on Antarctica with the exception ofthe U AV section which looks at a successful example from the Arctic region. The International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2008 is fast approaching. The concept of IPY 2007/08 is to have an intense, internationally coordinated campaign of polar observations, research, and analysis to improve the understanding of the polar regions and their relationship to the global climate system. Both the International Council for Science (ICSU) and the U.S. National Committee for the IPY 2007-2008 encourage the development of innovative technologies to expand the range of polar instruments and equipment available for use, including technologies such as autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), rovers, and uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAVs) [ICSU04][USNC04]. These three technology areas are the focus of this review. The [CarC)1] paper lists ways in which autonomous rovers would be able to significantly contribute to science tasks in the future, they are: Mapping detailed and tedious routes: areas that require dense observations Polar night: observe surface processes that occur in the dark of polar winter Hazardous routes: traversing dangerous sea ice Extremely remote routes: reach areas where even airborne support is difficult Simple instrumentation acquisition: where manned traverses can't be justified Instrumentation requiring slow traverse: magnetometer and gravimeter data Augment manned scientific traverse: rovers on different path for 2-D statistics Measurements without pollutants: solar powered for chemical investigations Autonomous rovers will continue to evolve over time which will increase their potential to contribute in a significant way to science in Antarctica. There have been two previous GCAS literature reviews that have dealt with robotics in Antarctica. The first was from the GCAS 1998/1999 course titled "Robots and their place in Antarctica" [Nob99]. This review covered the robot Dante I which attempted to explore the crater of Mt. Erebus in 1992 and the early testing of the Nomad robot which was designed to find meteorites in Antarctica. The second GCAS review was titled "Antarctica: A Test Bed for Space Exploration" from the 2002/03 course [Chi03]. It also reported on Dante I and the Nomad project but also covered remotely operated vehicle (ROV) sub experiments, the Antarctica Ice Borehole Probe which investigated drilled ice holes, and discussed the possibility of drilling into Lake Vostok. This review avoids duplicating these past GCAS reviews and focuses on Antarctica with the exception ofthe U AV section which looks at a successful example from the Arctic region.

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Citation
Keywords
Ngā upoko tukutuku/Māori subject headings
ANZSRC fields of research
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