Gallucci, Maria. “Autonomous Robots Could Mine the Deep Seafloor.” IEEE Spectrum: Technology, Engineering, and Science News, 1 Sept. 2020, 14:00 GMT, spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/robotics-software/autonomous-robots-could-mine-the-deep-seafloor.
Article title:
Autonomous Robots Could Mine the Deep Seafloor
Gif: Pliant Energy Systems/IEEE Spectrum
Pliant’s Velox prototype uses undulating fins to move large volumes of water at low velocity
My summary of the article:
Although sea mining is a highly potential industry, it is not supported by many marine scientists and environmentalists for it may cause damage to the deep sea environment that has developed for over millions of years untouched by humanity. This meant that engineers and technology developers had to come up with a way to conduct deep sea mining without it being a threat to the environment.
Pliant Energy Systems, a company by Pietro Filardo – one of the engineers who are working to solve this problem, built a machine that uses hyperbolic geometry fins to move in the water freely. By equipping them with grippers, the company aims to be able to mine polymetallic nodules from the seafloor without damage to the sea environment.
It is up to the ISA (International Seabed Authority) whether to allow deep sea mining by this machine or not. Another attempt to build an environmentally safe deep sea mining machine is done by the National Institute of Ocean Technology, where they are trying to engineer a mining vehicle that "crawls" on the seafloor. Will they be able to convince the ocean experts and environmentalists with their technology?
My response to the article:
Indeed, if the negative effects of deep sea mining on the sea environment exist no matter how severe they may be, it should be aborted because we cannot let any more human intervention damage the untouched magnificences of nature. However, at the same time, if a machine for deep sea mining is scientifically proven to use a completely harmless method of mining, it should be carried out given that humanity is suffering (and will suffer in the future) from lack of natural resources as our dependency on electronics and electricity in general increases.
The best scenario, therefore, would be that a company or institution like Pliant Energy Systems succeeds in engineering an environmentally harmless seafloor mining machine. Although this would be very hard, the positive effects this would have on humanity would be worth the input.
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