Robotic Fish Swarms for Undersea CO2 Leak Localization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Offshore carbon dioxide sequestration can lead to environmental damage due to carbon dioxide leakage into seawater, causing acidity and harming marine ecosystems, necessitating effective detection and monitoring technologies.
Innovation Solution
A system and method utilizing autonomous underwater vehicles, specifically bio-inspired robotic fish equipped with pH and carbon dioxide sensors, for mapping and detecting carbon dioxide leaks, employing wireless communication and swarming control to locate the source of leaks in submarine environments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If carbon dioxide is sequestered in undersea geological formations, then carbon dioxide emission is reduced, but carbon dioxide leakage into seawater causes acidity and environmental damage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a monitoring system using autonomous underwater vehicles that continuously detect carbon dioxide concentration and pH levels in the seawater. The system provides real-time feedback about the sequestration site conditions, enabling operators to detect leaks early and take corrective actions before significant environmental damage occurs, thus maintaining reliability while monitoring harmful effects
2Measurement precision
If traditional leak detection methods are used, then monitoring is simpler, but detection precision and localization accuracy are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the monitoring task among multiple autonomous underwater vehicles, each equipped with sensors for detecting carbon dioxide concentration and pH levels. The vehicles operate independently in a distributed manner, with each unit contributing to the overall detection precision through its local measurements, thereby achieving high measurement precision without requiring a single complex centralized system
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs autonomous underwater vehicles as intermediary agents between the sequestration site and the monitoring system. These vehicles carry specialized sensors and communicate detection data to a central system, serving as mobile intermediaries that enhance detection precision while keeping the overall system architecture manageable through standardized communication protocols
3Area of stationary object
If multiple autonomous underwater vehicles are deployed for monitoring, then detection coverage and precision improve, but system complexity and communication requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs autonomous underwater vehicles that perform multiple functions: they navigate autonomously, detect carbon dioxide concentration, measure pH levels, communicate with other vehicles, and localize leak sources. By making each vehicle multi-functional, the system achieves wide monitoring coverage without proportionally increasing overall system complexity, as each unit is a self-contained multi-functional platform
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables precise detection and localization of carbon dioxide leaks, minimizing environmental impact by accurately tracking and guiding AUVs to high concentrations, ensuring effective carbon dioxide preservation and reducing disruption to marine ecosystems.
Implementation Method 1
each AUV of the AUVs including a sensor to obtain measurements of an attribute in a submarine environment that is indicative of carbon dioxide
Data Source
AI summary
A method for detecting and locating a carbon dioxide leak in a submarine environment includes operating autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) in the submarine environment, where the operating includes obtaining, with each AUV of the AUVs, measurements of an attribute indicative of carbon dioxide, communicating, while operating the AUVs, the measurements from the each AUV to other AUVs of the AUVs, mapping, while operating the autonomous AUVs, carbon dioxide concentration in the submarine environment, and guiding the AUVs toward a highest concentration of the carbon dioxide concentration based on the mapping.