The marine imaging workshop 2017 in Kiel was the second workshop of this kind, bringing together engineers, researchers regulators, and industrial partners who are involved in acquiring visual imagery in the marine realm. To represent the engineering side of this challenge, Dr Blair Thornton and Sophia Schillai travelled to the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel; Blair presented how he uses classical photography in combination with structured light from a laser to produce multi-hectare 3D Visual Maps that can be used to quantify the distribution of benthic organisms. Sophia brought a poster on the terrain following challenges for flight style AUV.

Besides presentations the workshop included several sessions for discussions on the future of marine imaging, giving a large and diverse platform to exchange what is important to those who use the data and where the challenges in aquiring and processing the data lie.
This was rounded off by a tour of the GEOMAR facilities, where on top of a diverse spectrum of research areas they were amused by the discovery of a museum model of the AUV ABYSS. It was made for a special exhibit, on of many ways how Germany involves the public in the science theme of 2017: The year of the oceans.
Shortly afterwards the annual VLC awayday conference brings together all students whose research is with the ECS group Vision, Learning, and Control (VLC). This includes several PhD students with FSI, but this year our group was also represented by Dr Blair Thornton giving the keynote. He showed how the often quite abstract research on Vision, Learning and Control is vital to getting a larger scale insight to the oceans. They cover 70% of our planet, but challenges from analysis of deep sea minerals to discovering deep-sea benthic ecosystems or monitoring the environment following disasters such as the Fukushima nuclear accident can only be solved at a large scale by applying advanced computational techniques.
PhD student Sophia completed the insight in the collaborative work between FSI and VLC by showing her work on improving the capability of flight style AUV, like Autosub6000 or BoatyMcBoatface from NOC, to stay close to complex terrains for photographic studies. Her presentation was awarded the runner-up award for the best presentation of the day.
 

Second year students Miri Park and Moriba Konate report:

The second year ship science students had the privilege of visiting the car carrier, Toledo at the Southampton dock. The Japanese built 200m ship had 12 tiers of car decks with the total capacity of 6564 units of passenger cars.
Before going on board, the students spoke to the engineers from Ecosubsea, a company which uses remotely controlled mini-submarines to clean underwater hull. The engineers highlighted the importance of protecting the hull from fouling and how a clean hull with minimal paint damage helps to reduce air pollution and fuel costs for a ship. This allowed the students to acknowledge the growing environmental issues and the needs for regulations on ships.

On the bridge, the electronic chart display and information system (ECDIS) was shown by the chief engineer, which helps the navigation crew to monitor the ship and plan the route in advance. However, in contrast to this technological advancement, a signalling lamp was still in use and it was explained that all crew must know the Morse code. The ballast control system was shown and the students watched how it automatically ballast and deballast during the loading process.
The students were taken around the accommodation space, including the galley, mess rooms, offices and gym, which helped to get an idea for their general arrangement assignment and to see why it is important to provide recreational spaces and a habitable environment for the crew as a naval architect.

Overall, the visit was a success and the shaft tunnel and the steering gear system was most memorable for the students. This helped to understand the importance of shaft alignment and its maintenance during service and it further reinforced their understanding of lecture materials. We are all very thankful to Wallenius Wilhelmsen for this opportunity and hope to see you again!

Fluid structure interactions is looking for able individuals with a background in engineering, maths or physics who wish to deepen their research skills by carrying out PhD research. Our group of 40+ PhD students is a vibrant community although focussed in maritime engineering applications but with many links to other research groups both within Southampton and internationally.

A number of immediate opportunities are listed below but it is always worth contacting any of our members of staff directly to see what other opportunities they might have.  The applications process itself can be accessed via the on-line link.
The following projects are currently on offer covering some of our diversity associated with the hydrodynamics of swimming and the musco-skeletal system, reducing the climate change impact of international shipping, exploring the challenges of autonomous surface vessels for environmental monitoring, finding new approaches for maritime design optimisation.
Assessing the impact of hydrodynamic loads on shoulder joint injuries in swimming,      contact Dr Joe Banks
A High Temporal Resolution Study of Sediment Deposition At River Mouths Using Persistently Present Autonomous Surface Vehicles contact Dr Jon Downes
Reducing shipping emissions through accurately quantifying ship powering performance using statistical analysis of operational data contact Professor Dominic Hudson
Modelling ship selection and operational usage decisions under uncertainty – towards a better understanding of GHG emissions in international shipping contact Professor Dominic Hudson
Assessment of ship powering performance using machine learning techniques contact Professor Dominic Hudson
Re-imagining the genetic algorithm with application to marine engineering design contact Dr Adam Sobey
 
 

Only 5% of the world’s ocean floor have been mapped, collecting data at these depths provides a significant challenge. This project aims to design a deep-sea research platform, in the form of an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle.

If you want to find out more about the project, please visit our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AtlantisUnderwaterRobot/ The robot will do the following;

• Travel to depths of 100m.
• Carry a payload of sensors and cameras that can collect images and data.
• Uses a flapping foil mechanism for propulsion.The robot will be bioinspired with oscillating foil propulsion; this will provide increased manoeuvrability.

This project involves designing, building and testing a full-scale robot. The team will carry out the following tasks to complete the project:

• Developing the conceptual design
• Modelling and optimising an interacting flapping foil mechanism
• Carrying out material testing for the hull and foil materials to determine if they can withstand operating conditions at 100m depth
• Modelling the hull under operating conditions using FEA, and reinforce the structure where necessary
• Manufacturing and testing the separate elements of the AUV
• Programming the AUV so it is capable of operating autonomously underwater, navigating a pre-set path.
• Test the robot at a depth of 3m