A new laboratory based at Newcastle University has been launched to allow creative minds to design and build drones capable of exploring the world’s oceans.
The new facility is supported by engineering firm Sonardyne International Ltd and has been established as a focal point for marine robotics at the university.
The lab has been opened at Armstrong House and is known as the Newcastle University Sonardyne Robotics and Autonomous Systems Student Laboratory.
It contains new equipment and components for building underwater drones, including vehicle parts, laptops and control stations.
Undergraduate students are already making use of the space to design and make their own marine autonomous systems (MAS).
John Ramsden, managing director of Sonardyne, which has bases in Aberdeen, Plymouth and Yateley, said: “As a company, we passionately believe in supporting education in engineering here in the UK.
“Newcastle University is one of the only universities in the country focusing on underwater robotic and MAS and it’s a focus that closely aligns with where we see the future of offshore and marine operations.
“Supporting the students in these areas, in a region with a strong a heritage in subsea engineering, will support growth in these expertise, both in Newcastle and more broadly across the UK in coming years.”
The University Projects Society has been active in the subsea robotics space for he last three years. Most recently the organisations NUROVers team made it through to the finals of the Marine Advanced Technology Education competition in Tennessee and took home the “Guts and Glory” awards. The society is now looking to build an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV).
Engineering Projects Society president Edward Land said: “To be involved with engineering Project Society working on the ROV has allowed myself and others to not only apply what we have learnt in the classroom to a real life situation, but also to learn about different aspects of engineering in order to work together in a cohesive team of multiple disciplines. Sonardyne’s sponsorship will be beneficial as it will allow us to be more adventurous and experimental with our solutions without having to worry about funds.”
