Wave Glider

Wave gliders are manufactured by Liquid Robotics, Inc. and consist of a surface float (resembling a surfboard) and a tethered "sub" that use the energy of surface waves to provide propulsion and solar-charged batteries to provide power for the navigation system, instrumentation, and Iridium modem. Like the Slocum glider, the wave glider can be navigated simply by supplying new waypoints during Iridium communication sessions.

The wave glider's endurance is theoretically unlimited, making it ideal for persistent use in remote and harsh environments over time scales of months to years; however, our experience suggests biofouling and wear of mechanical parts limit practical endurance to a few months. We have attached the DMON to the "sub" in a hydrodynamic fairing instead of tethering the DMON in a towed fairing to minimize entanglement risk with whales and fishing gear.  Mechanical noise is an issue on the sub, but can be mitigated with careful application of teflon and rubber stops.  The wave glider is a challenging platform for low-frequency acoustics, however, since the sub is very close to the surface (where there is wave noise) and the glider itself moves fairly quickly (1-3 knots), which produces flow noise.  We no longer use wave gliders for research on baleen whales that make low-frequency calls because of these issues.

Publications:

Baumgartner, M.F., K. Ball, J. Partan, L.-P. Pelletier, J. Bonnell, C. Hotchkin, P.J. Corkeron, and S.M. Van Parijs. 2021. Near real-time detection of low-frequency baleen whale calls from an autonomous surface vehicle: Implementation, evaluation, and remaining challenges. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 149:2950-296, doi: 10.0004817.