March 13, 2012 03:50pm ETRobots Set New World Record for Ocean Travel Liquid Robotics A group of wave gliders set a new distance record by traveling from San Francisco to Hawaii. Credit: Liquid Robotics View full size image

Oceangoing robots have broken a distance record by reaching Hawaii from San Francisco, braving 26-foot waves and gale force storms along the way.

The four wave gliders made by Liquid Robotics traveled more than 3,200 nautical miles on the first leg of their 9,000-mile journey across the Pacific. Their arrival on the big island of Hawaii four months after leaving the West Coast shattered the Guinness World Records mark of 2,500 miles for the longest distance traveled by unmanned wave power vehicles.

"We are proud our PacX Wave Gliders have reached their first destination and broken the world record," said Edward Lu, chief of innovative applications at Liquid Robotics, which is based in Sunnyvale, Calif. "PacX represents a new model for providing widespread and easy access to environmental monitoring of the world's oceans, one in which Liquid Robotics operates fleets of mobile, autonomous ocean robots across previously inaccessible areas."

Each of the four drones consists of an underwater glider connected by a cable to a floating section. The wave gliders convert the endless motion of the ocean's waves into forward thrust, which would allow them to travel thousands of miles without fuel during yearlong missions.

The Hawaii stopover allows the wave gliders to get a checkup before setting out for their final destinations. One pair of wave gliders will cross the Mariana Trench — the deepest place on Earth — on its way to Japan. A second pair will cross the equator as it heads for Australia.

If all goes well, the underwater drones could reach their destinations by late 2012 or early 2013.

Such wave gliders represent a new generation of robots capable of monitoring hugely significant  changes in Earth's oceans, including acidification, shrinking fisheries and natural disasters such as tsunamis.

机器人为海洋旅行创造新的世界记录

2012年3月13日下午3点50 ETRobots创造新的世界纪录海洋旅游液体Robotics 一组由旧金山前往夏威夷树立了新的距离录波滑翔机。图片来源：液态机器人查看原图

远洋机器人已经从旧金山到达夏威夷，冒着26英尺的巨浪和大风的力量风暴沿途.

打破了距离纪录

液相机器人制造的四波滑翔机前往3200多个海里横跨太平洋的9000英里的旅程的第一站。他们离开西海岸后在到达夏威夷四个月大岛，打破了吉尼斯世界纪录标志2500英里无人驾驶波动力汽车.

u0026 QUOT走过的最长的距离，我们非常自豪我们的波PACX滑翔机已经达到了他们的第一个目的地和打破了世界纪录，＆QUOT;爱德华说陆，创新应用在液态机器人，总部设在加州桑尼维尔首席＆QUOT; PACX代表提供广泛的和容易获得环境监测世界海洋，在其中液态机器人操作的移动舰队的新模式，自治区海洋机器人跨越以前无法进入的地区和QUOT;

这四个无人机由一个水下滑翔器通过电缆连接到浮动部分。波浪滑翔机转换大海的波涛为向前的推力，这将让他们在为期一年的任务行程万里无燃油的无尽运动.

夏威夷停留允许波滑翔机，以制定出他们的最终目的地之前得到检查。一对波滑翔机将穿越马里亚纳海沟＆mdash;地球mdash上最深的地方;在它的途中到日本。第二对将穿越赤道，因为它为澳大利亚.

领导如果一切顺利，水下无人驾驶飞机能在2012年年底或2013年初到达目的地.

这样的波浪滑翔机代表了新一代的机器人能够监控非常显著＆NBSP的;改变地球的海洋，包括酸化，萎缩渔业和自然灾害，如海啸.