“We’re developing an algorithm so the vehicle processes sonar data in real time, and based on its knowledge of the terrain, it can adapt its survey pattern autonomously.”Mingxi Zhou
When Mingxi Zhou first learned about the field of marine robotics as a graduate student in Newfoundland, he was intrigued. He had already studied micro-electronics manufacturing in China and was searching for an emerging robotics discipline to pursue. The more he learned about autonomous underwater vehicles and ocean instruments, the more he knew he had found his future career direction.
Hired as an assistant professor at the Graduate School of Oceanography in October 2018, he has already begun several new research projects, and he is looking forward to collaborating with other GSO faculty on many more.
“When Dean Corliss showed me the master plan for the campus and I saw that the school is really investing in ocean technology and instrumentation for the future, that convinced me that I wanted to come here,” Zhou said. “With the new buildings, new facilities and the new ship, I know there is huge potential here for the kind of work I’m interested in.”
For his doctoral research, Zhou developed a novel method for profiling the underside of an iceberg using a hybrid underwater glider.
“There are lots of icebergs drifting around in the Canadian waters of the Atlantic, and industry is really concerned about their potential threats to impact offshore infrastructure like drilling platforms, pipelines and cables,” he said. “They’re developing drift and deterioration models to better predict where the icebergs will go. If there is a high risk for an iceberg to damage infrastructure, they might send a ship to try to tow the iceberg away.”
Because about 80% of the volume of most icebergs is underwater—and their underwater shape determines what direction and how fast they will travel—it’s important to get an accurate profile of the underside of each iceberg so scientists can better predict their drifting pattern. Zhou developed an improved control system and integrated sonar system for an autonomous underwater glider so it can navigate around an iceberg to map its underwater shape.
While he continues this work in collaboration with scientists at Memorial University, he is also launching several new projects related to autonomous marine robotics that will ensure that underwater vehicles can accomplish a user’s goal without human intervention.
“For example, if you want a vehicle to survey a certain area, scientists usually plan the exact pattern of the survey,” explained Zhou, who is collaborating with Professor Chris Roman on the project. “But we’re developing an algorithm so the vehicle processes sonar data in real time, and based on its knowledge of the terrain, it can adapt its survey pattern autonomously.”
The system will be tested in Narragansett Bay later this year.
Zhou is also working with two undergraduate students this summer to design a new underwater vehicle that not only flies horizontally, as all other torpedo-shaped vehicles do, but also flies in a vertical mode. In addition, research grant applications and inquiries are pending at the National Science Foundation, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Office of Naval Research. —Todd McLeish