{"id":183243,"date":"2024-03-04T10:50:17","date_gmt":"2024-03-04T15:50:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/?page_id=183243"},"modified":"2025-10-21T12:06:39","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T16:06:39","slug":"research-ocean-robotics-and-tech","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/research-ocean-robotics-and-tech\/","title":{"rendered":"Research: Ocean Robotics & Tech"},"content":{"rendered":"

Research | Ocean Robotics & Technology<\/h1><\/div><\/div>
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Apply site-wide<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>\n\n\n

What scientific, economic and cultural discoveries are yet to be made as we explore the ocean?<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Ocean Robotics program at the University of Rhode Island is an active and exciting research group with projects spanning many facets of marine science and technology. Faculty from both the Graduate School of Oceanography and the Department of Ocean Engineering are using and developing robotic platforms for marine environments ranging from shallow coastlines to the deepest parts of the world\u2019s ocean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Robotic systems are transforming oceanography and revolutionizing our ability to collect and process data in profoundly new ways. Application areas include seafloor mapping and imaging, mid-water physics and biology, ocean acoustics, and much more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Discovering shipwrecks with URI’s new ROV Rhody<\/h2>

A crew of eight URI students, scientists, and engineers completed the first survey of known shipwrecks in Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary with NOAA OECI.<\/p><\/div><\/div>

Exploration in action<\/div><\/a><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Deep-sea fleet of benthic landers taking shape at URI<\/h2>

The Marecotec lab is leading an innovative mission to study the deep-sea corals in areas of the Gulf of Mexico affected by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.<\/p><\/div><\/div>

Underwater mission<\/div><\/a><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Studying sharks with baited remote underwater video systems (BRUVs)<\/h2>

This innovative tool is making deep-sea shark research more accessible by allowing scientists to collect footage without the need for complex infrastructure.<\/p><\/div><\/div>

GTKGSO: Tech & tools<\/div><\/a><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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More robotics stories<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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NOAA Ocean Exploration \nCooperative Institute<\/h1>

URI is the lead institution of the OECI, which develops new ocean technologies to explore the vast, underexplored regions of the ocean.<\/p>State of the art technology<\/a><\/div><\/div>

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Ocean Technology Labs & Research Groups<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Name<\/th>Faculty\/PI<\/th>Themes<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Ocean Robotics Group<\/a><\/td>GSO & OE faculty<\/td>Our lab develops robotic platforms for marine environments ranging from shallow coastlines to the deepest parts of the world\u2019s ocean.<\/td><\/tr>
Smart Ocean Systems Laboratory<\/span><\/a><\/td>Mingxi Zhou<\/span><\/td>Our lab group studies vehicle autonomy and decision making, multi-vehicle collaboration and accessible unmanned platform and system development <\/span><\/td><\/tr>
Undersea Robotics and Imaging Laboratory (URIL)<\/span><\/a><\/td>Brennan Phillips<\/span><\/td>Our lab specializes in creating novel systems for oceanographic research and deep-sea exploration, with a focus on imaging systems, soft robotics, and lightweight, low-cost technology.<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
The Omand Lab<\/span><\/a><\/td>Melissa Omand<\/span><\/td>Our lab group studies the physical movement of organic carbon in the ocean. We specialize in situ imaging and optical proxies from autonomous platforms.<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
Marine Ecology and Technology Lab<\/a><\/td>Andy Davies<\/td>Our lab focuses on the spatial ecology of marine ecosystems, primarily reefs, using a mixture of natural history observation, experimentation and novel technologies to untangle the ecology of these enigmatic habitats.<\/td><\/tr>
NOAA Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute<\/a><\/td>Adam Soule <\/span><\/td>Our mission is to explore, map, and characterize the nation\u2019s vast ocean territory, to develop and implement new technologies, and to engage future generations of ocean scientists, engineers, and stakeholders.<\/td><\/tr>
Inner Space Center<\/a><\/td><\/td>We are a one-of-a-kind national facility that supports live ocean exploration via telepresence technology.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Faculty | Ocean Robotics & Technology<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Stephen Licht<\/a><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/header>\n\t
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Associate Professor and Graduate Director<\/p>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t

Ocean Engineering<\/p>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

401.874.6028<\/span>
slicht@uri.edu<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t\n\t\t

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Melissa Omand<\/a><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/header>\n\t
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Associate Professor of Oceanography<\/p>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t

Physical Oceanography<\/p>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

401.874.6610<\/span>
momand@uri.edu<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t\n\t\t

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Brennan T. Phillips<\/a><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/header>\n\t
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Associate Professor of Engineering<\/p>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t

Ocean Engineering<\/p>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

401.874.6035<\/span>
brennanphillips@uri.edu<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t\n\t\t

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Chris Roman<\/a><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/header>\n\t
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Professor of Oceanography<\/p>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t

Marine Geology and Geophysics<\/p>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

401.874.6115<\/span>
croman2@uri.edu<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t\n\t\t

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Adam Soule<\/a><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/header>\n\t
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Professor of Oceanography, Executive Director of the Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute<\/p>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t

Marine Geology and Geophysics<\/p>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

adamsoule@uri.edu<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t\n\t\t

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Lora Van Uffelen<\/a><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/header>\n\t
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Associate Professor of Ocean Engineering<\/p>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t

Ocean Engineering<\/p>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

401.874.6879<\/span>
loravu@uri.edu<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t\n\t\t

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Mingxi Zhou<\/a><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/header>\n\t
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Associate Professor of Oceanography<\/p>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t

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401.874.6633<\/span>
mzhou@uri.edu<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t\n\t\t

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What scientific, economic and cultural discoveries are yet to be made as we explore the ocean? The Ocean Robotics program at the University of Rhode Island is an active and exciting research group with projects spanning many facets of marine science and technology. Faculty from both the Graduate School of Oceanography and the Department of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4762,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-183243","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/183243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4762"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183243"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/183243\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":190566,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/183243\/revisions\/190566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}