A Wave Glider with the Monterey Bay coast in the background on a glorious day at sea. (Photo courtesy of Liquid Robotics)

Karin Stanton | Hawaii 24/7 Editor

Four Wave Gliders are spending their spring break at the Liquid Robotics facility in Kawaihae before continuing a record-setting journey across the Pacific Ocean.

Liquid Robotics, an ocean data services provider and developer of the first wave-powered Wave Glider marine robot, last month announced the PacX Challenge Wave Gliders have broken the Guinness Book World record for distance by an unmanned wave-powered vehicle.

All four Wave Gliders arrived safely in Hawaii after making the 3,200-mile from the California coast. That easily bested the previous record of 2,500 miles.

To recognize the achievement and announce a $50,000 prize for the most innovative use of Wave Glider data, the company hosted a reception Thursday evening at its Kawaihae marine engineering and test center.

“The ocean is our life blood,” said Graham Hine, vice president of operations. “Understanding the ocean and knowing how to take care of the ocean that takes care of us is critical. These Wave Gliders are helping us do that.”

Hine said the amount of data and information the Wave Gliders collect will have myriad real world applications, from weather and climate monitoring to tracking boats and schools of fish to detecting leaks along oil pipelines. Wave Gliders also will help scientists map the ocean floor in the greatest detail ever produced.

“People have traveled the ocean for millenia, but it’s a very difficult environment,” he said. “There’s all kinds of scientific parameters where the Wave Gliders will be useful. We can open this science up and show the world about the ocean.”

Most of the world’s fresh water, weather and even oxygen comes from the ocean, Hine said. The ocean’s health also is closely tied to the world’s economic health, he said.

Graham Hine explains how solar and wave energy are used to power the Wave Glider. This one is Benjamin and will be heading to Australia later this month. (Karin Stanton | Hawaii 24/7)

Wave Gliders look like boogie boards loaded with high-tech gear. Attached to the top surface of the 7-foot-long body are two solar panels, used to power the navigation and data collection equipment, including monitors, sensors, a GPS unit and a camera.

While riding the waves, they continuously gather and transmit real-time data such as salinity, water temperature, oxygen levels, fluorescence and weather readings. The data is made available free of charge to scientists, educators, students and the general public.

The robots also can be deployed for a variety of other missions, including measuring the size of an oil slick, tracking fish and marine life populations, and detecting emergency signals from vessels in distress.

Below the body is a 23-foot umbilical cord connected to a panel of 12 flippers, or wings. The wings swivel with the ocean movement, propelling the 200-pound contraption forward.

Scientists guide the Wave Glider by sending navigation instructions, which are relayed to the rudder.

“The whole propulsion is powered by the waves,” Hine said. “And down below, the wings are flapping away just like fins or wings.”

Launched Nov. 17, 2011 from San Francisco Bay, the Wave Gliders survived 26-foot waves in a gale force storm, defied turbulent mid-ocean currents, all while transmitting real time ocean data and staying on course to their first destination of the Big Island.

One – the Piccard Maru – did have to be picked up 70 miles off Maui after it quit responding to navigation directions. When they realized it was just cruising in lazy circles, Hine said, a crew was dispatched to recover it.

They found a series of knife-like cuts along the rudder cable. Crews also dug out a white chunk from the cable insulation.

“It’s very likely that it’s a shark tooth. We’ve sent it to Stanford for DNA testing, but we don’t have the results yet,” Hine said. “Benjamin also has some scratches on one of the wings that sure look like the semi-circle bite mark of a shark.”

That’s why the Wave Gliders are likely to get a paint job during their stay in Kawaihae. “We’re figuring ‘Bite Me White’ was probably not the best choice of colors.”

In addition to the new paint jobs, Hine said the Wave Gliders are under going tests and recalibration of the equipment before the next leg of their PacX journey.

The innovative two-part design of the Wave Glider converts wave energy directly into forward propulsion, using no stored energy. (Photo courtesy of Liquid Robotics)

Piccard Maru and Fontaine Maru are heading westward past the Solomon Islands, crossing over the Mariana Trench and taking on the Kuroshio Current to the shores of Japan.

Benjamin and Papa Mau are heading toward Fiji, through the Coral Sea, past New Caledonia and on to Australia.

It is anticipated the Wave Gliders will reach their destinations in late 2012 or early 2013. By then, the four Wave Gliders collectively will have covered more than 33,000 miles.

“These guys have quite a long journey ahead of them and we’re excited to see what happens,” Hine said.

Edward Lu, the company’s chief of innovative applications, said, “I have no doubt new ocean discoveries, insights and applications will emerge from the PacX data set. PacX represents a new model for providing widespread and easy access to environmental monitoring of the worldʼs oceans, one in which Liquid Robotics operates fleets of mobile, autonomous ocean robots across previously inaccessible areas of the ocean.”

Each Wave Glider costs between $100,000 and $200,000 to build and equip. The price tag for each operational day runs $1,000 to $3,000. More than 100 already are deployed worldwide.

BP has been a customer since 2010, employing up to four Wave Gliders to survey a 15,000 mile area of the Gulf of Mexico as well as monitoring water quality for unusual levels of oil – both crude and refined – and using acoustic sensors to track marine mammal activity.

David Sweeten, BP program manager, was in Kawaihae for Thursday’s celebration. He announced a $50,000 prize for the best and most innovative idea on how to use Wave Glider data.

The contest is open to everyone – from scientists to middle school students to amateur inventors and explorers. Entrants are asked to submit a one-page proposal, which will be judged by a panel of scientists. The top five will be asked to complete their project and prepare a 10-page report to be presented at a future conference.

The winner will walk away with the $50,000 prize and the use of a Wave Glider for six months.

“This challenge is great because it’s open to everyone,” Hine said. “We just want to hear ideas from people who analyze the data to prove something really cool. It’s wide open.”

Meanwhile, Liquid Robotics is working with NOAA, NASA and the Department of Defense on various projects. About 1,500 organizations and individuals are signed up to receive Wave Glider data on a regular basis.

Hine said the company’s presence on the Big Island is not an accident. “Where else can you work on the water for 360 or more days every year? Certainly nowhere in the United States. Hawaii is in many ways our birth place.”

Mayor Billy Kenoi said Liquid Robotics – which employs about 80 people, including a couple dozen on the Big Island – is a welcome addition.

“How cool is this?” he said. “We’re very, very excited to have them here. Not just for the scientific research it represents for the world, but it’s about creating a new section of our economy here on the Big Island. It really is a gateway, an incredible opportunity for scientific research and innovation.”

State Rep. Cindy Evans, who has been watching Liquid Robotics expand and grow over the last four years, said she is looking forward to what the company will do next.

“This is transformational technology. It’s going to be life-changing,” she said. “We don’t even know the full application of this yet, but this is a real viable product.”

State Rep. Mark Nakashima said Liquid Robotics is a great example for Hawaii’s next generation of scientists and inventors.

“The education part is key,” he said. “We’ve worked hard to have a workforce and develop a skill set in our young people so they can jump into these high-tech jobs. We have some remarkable young people involved in our robotics programs across the state.”

— Find out more:
www.liquidr.com

Mayor Billy Kenoi, Rep. Cindy Evans, Liquid Robotics vice president of government affairs Suniel Thomas, Rep. Mark Nakashima and Jacqui Hoover, Hawaii Island Economic Development Board executive director. (Karin Stanton | Hawaii 24/7)