MAXIMUM NUMBER OF STUDENTS

Focus Underwater Robotc Vehcles for Scentfc Exploraton GRADE LEVEL 7-8 (Physcal Scence/Lfe Scence) MAXIMUM NUMBER OF STUDENTS Focus QUESTION How can underwater robots be used to assst sc- ROPOS entfc exploratons? Remotely Operated Vehcle LEARNING OBJECTIVES Tburon scentfc exploratons. Students wll be able to dscuss the advantages In 1977, scentsts n the deep-dvng submersble. and dsadvantages of usng underwater robots n Alvn made the frst vst to an oceanc spread- scentfc exploratons. MATERIALS.. Survey," one for each student group : these hot sprngs came to be known as hydro- AUDIO/~ISUAL MATERIALS O (Optonal) computers wth nternet access mented n the world's ocean. 'these systems are TEACHING TIME the seafloor crust enters magmacontanng cham- One 45-mnute class perod, plus tme for student : research bers beneath a spreadng rdge. Intense heat

2005 Lost Cty Expedton - Grades 7-8 (Physcal Scence/Lfe Scence) of rock-lke deposts. The hydrothermal flud These autotrophc bactera are the base of a Rdge and the chmneys looked so much lke Cracks n the seafloor can allow seawater to between seawater and mnerals n the rock [a Atlants Massf usng a robotc vehcle known as produce a large amount of heat that causes the desgned to conduct underwater surveys wthout fluds to rse and eventually vent at the surface a plot or tether to a shp or submersble. In ths

2005 Lost Cty Expedton - Grades 7-8 (Physcal Scence/Lfe Scence) ter exploratons. LEARNING PROCEDURE 1. To prepare for ths lesson: //oceanexplorer.nooo.gov/technology/subs/subs.html. perature sensors, depth recorder, magnetom- eter, sonar, wax core sampler, navgaton referenced above. requres techncans and engneers for man- tenance, as well as data managers to retreve nformaton stored n computer memory ment th,s dscusson. lator arms that can be ftted wth dfferent samplng tools (stanless steel jaws, manpulator feedback sensors, rope cutters, snap hooks, core tubes]; varable-speed sucton sampler and rotatng samplng tray; sonar; Scence (ROPOS) General Purpose Remotely Operated Vehcles (ROVs) RCV-150 Tburon nated, range gated camera, and downwardlookng dgtal scannng sonar

2005 Lost Cty Expedton - Grades 7-8 (Physcal Scence/Lfe Scence] the depth and area of the research ste and to create "mosacs"; sensors for measurng pressure, water temperature, oxygen concen- traton, and salnty -control the ROV's movements slghtly buoyant n seawater Vehcles (ROVs) Depth capablty vares are mmersed n mneral ol, whch does not compress sgnfcantly under pressure Lnked to the shp by a group of cables turns operatng the vehcle rsk to the subs and ther plots Watch leader makes sure that the scentfc goals of the dve are beng addressed; Plot operates Hercules, controllng ts thrust- ers, manpulator arms, and other functons; Engneer controls the wnch that moves Argus up and down, as well as Argus' thrusters and other functons, and asssts the Plot; Navgator montors the work beng done and the relatve postons of the vehcles and shp and communcates wth the shp's crew to coordnate shp movements; Vdeo and Data watch-standers record and document all the data that the vehcles send only gathers vdeo mages Desgned prmarly to study and recover art- Controlled from a specal control room on facts from ancent shpwrecks

2005 Lost Cty Expedton - Grades 7-8 (Physcal Scence/Lfe Scence) emergency and f entangled, try to free the sub wth the radal cutter bance to anmals beng observed constant use of the thrusters cores from the seafloor. RCV- I 50 Tethered to support shp va a double armored electro-optcal umblcal maxmum depth of 3,000 meters. We are partcularly nterested n geologcal formatons, and want to collect rock cores and samples of bologcal organsms that may be lvng on these formatons. [ROPOS and Tburon can be ftted wth a rock-corng drll and bologcal samplng nch cutoff wheel we want to survey other parts of the Atlants Massf for smlar vent communtes. Ths wll requre a robot that can travel back and forth across the mountan, mantanng a dstance of about 5 meters from the bottom, wth contnuous depth recordngs and vdeo mages taken every 10 meters. [Several robots have the capablty to do ths nes work, but ABE s best suted for ths type of Much easer to launch and recover than a survey snce t can operate ndependently whle humans do other work.] fsh n Hawa' In the event of a submersble emergency deep water coral reefs off the coast of Florda (depth 500-700 m]. We need vdeo records of fsh speces n a varety of habtats, partcularly under coral ledges near the bottom. [RCV- 150 and some General Purpose ROVs could do ths work. RCV- 150 has been used

2005 Lost Cty Expedton - Grades 7-8 (Physcal Scence/lfe Scence] record mages under ledges.] to support Psces operatons, and would most lkely be carred as part of emergency response equpment on support vessels.] practcal for ths purpose? Vehcle would be most cost effectve.] [el Our expedton s studyng the lnkages caves, approxmately 300 meters deep. The entrances to some of these caves s only about 300 cm square. We need vdeo mages of the nteror of these caves to plan further exploratons. [General Purpose Remotely Operated Vehcles can be as small as a bread box, and could provde the vdeo mages needed for ths (bottom] communtes assocated wth a chan of underwater volcanoes. We want to sample geologcal formatons as well as bologcal communtes, but won't know exactly what types of samples wll be needed untl we can see the area. Depths n our study area wll be between 1,500 and 4,500 [ROPOS can be ftted wth a wde varety of observaton tools that could gve these scentsts the flexblty they need to respond to new and unexpected dscoveres] water temperature around a newly eruptng underwater volcano, two mles below the surface of the ocean. We need samples [Hercules was desgned specfcally for the taken every hour for a month. study of ancent shpwrecks and recovery of [ABE s the only robot n the group capable of autonomous operatons and long-term monphotographc surveys.]

oceanexplorer.noaa.gov 2005 Lost Cty Expedton - Grades 7-8 (Physcal Scence/Lfe Scence) RESOURCES General Purpose ROVs could do ths work. Ths s an opportunty to dscuss the advantag- ht~p://o~eanexplorer.nooa.gov/explor~el~ome.html es and dsadvantages of the dfferent systems. - Web ste for the 2005 Lost Cty exped- You may want to ask what addtonal detals ton. about the msson would help n makng the best choce.] Bohm, H. and V. Jensen. 1998. Buld Your Own Programmable Lego Submersble: Project: 6. Brefly dscuss the dsadvantages of underwater Sea Angel AUV (Autonomous Underwater robots compared to submersbles. The major Vehcle). Westcoost Words. 39 pages. drawback s that the human presence s lost, and ths makes vsual surveys and evaluatons Bohm, H. 1997. Buld your own underwater robot more dffcult. Tethered robots also are con- and other wet projects. Westcoast Words. straned to some extent by ther cabled connec- 148 pages. ton to the support shp. ht1~://ww.oceanex~lorer.noaa.~ov/explorutons/o2fre/logs/ THE BRIDGE CONNECTION magcmountan/welcome.html - Vrtual tour of www.vms.edu/brdge/ - In the "Ste Navgaton" menu Magc Mountan, a hydrothermal vent ste on the lek, clck "Ocean Scence Topcs," then t located on Explorer Rdge n the NE Pacfc "Human Actvtes," then "Technology" for lnks to j Ocean, about 150 mles west of Vancouver resources about submersbles, ROVs, and other Island, Brtsh Columba, Canada. technologes used n underwater exploraton. h~~~://ww.bo.~su.edu/hotvents - Vrtual tour of h~drother- THE "ME" CONNECTION Have students wrte a bref essay descrbng how ma1 vent communtes robots are (or may be] of personal beneft. http://seawfs.gsfc.nuso.go~/oc~~~~p~~net/html.ps~vents.htm~ - Lnks to many other Web stes wth nfor- CONNECTIONS TO OTHER SUBJECTS Englsh/Language Arts, Lfe Scence, Mathematcs moton about hydrothermal vents NATIONAL SCIENCE EDUCATION STANDARDS EVALUATION Content Standard A: Scence As Inqury Reports and dscussons n Steps 4 and 5 provde Abltes necessary to do scentfc nqury opportuntes for assessment. Understandngs about scentfc nqury EXTENSIONS Content Standard E: Scence and Technology 1. Have students vst http://oceanexplorer.nooo.gov/ Abltes of technologcal desgn exploratons/05lostct~/welcome.html to keep UP to Understandngs about scence and technology date wth the latest Lost Cty Expedton ds- coveres. Content Standard F: Scence n Personal and Socal Perspectves 2. Buld your own underwater robot. See books Scence and technology n socety by Harry Bohm under "Resources." Content Standard G: Hstory and Nature of Scence Nature of scence

2005 Lost Cty Expedton - Grades 7-8 (Physcal Scence/Lfe Scence] FOR MORE INFORMATION Paula Keener-Chavs, Drector, Educaton Programs NOAA Offce of Ocean Exploraton Hollngs Marne Laboratory 33 1 Fort Johnson Road, Charleston SC 29412 843.762.881 8 L ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 'Ths lesson plan was produced by Mel Goodwn, PhD, The Harmony Project, Charleston, SC for the Natonal Oceanc and Atmospherc Admnstraton. If reproducng ths lesson, please cte NOAA as the source, and provde the follow- ng URL: http://oceunexplorer.nooo.gov

oceanexplorer.noaa.gov 2005 Lost Cty Expedton - Grodes 7-8 [Physcal Scence/Lfe Scence] Focus: Underwater robotc vehcles for scentfc exploroton Underwater Robot Capablty Survey Name of Robotc Vehcle -- -- Maxmum Operatng Depth --- Tethered or Autonomous Mnmum Number of Crew Requred for Operaton Tools -- -- Specal Capabltes or Advantages Other Detals