After our aerial drones (DJI quadcopters) and underwater drone (Trident), here comes our brand new programmable boat: the BlueBoat from the American company Blue Robotics.
We have been collaborating with this Californian company for several years. Initially, we bought BlueRobotics components to build underwater ROVs (Remotely Operated Vehicles). In 2020, we first used their watertight tubes to develop the autonomous underwater monitoring system to capture Mediterranean monk seals resting in a submerged cave.
More recently, it’s for the Remora project – The sentinels of the Mediterranean, that we used their waterproof casings. The quality and variety of their products, as well as their customer service, have been most useful.
When they presented the BlueBoat to us in 2024, an autonomous boat capable of covering very large areas for both sonar and bathymetry, we were very interested. With its high-capacity batteries, the BlueBoat can navigate for several hours at a constant speed and heading.
To finalize the tool, we installed a Lowrance sonar, capable of recording precise data of the seabed. The recorded files can then help us create bathymetric maps of areas of interest.
Alongside the Lowrance transducer, we also added a GoPro which allows us to take photos at regular intervals, for example, every second. In shallow areas (between 2 and 6 meters), provided good visibility, we can generate a photogrammetric survey of a large area, resulting in a 3D model.
In 2024, we conducted our first tests of the BlueBoat in the fresh waters of Lake Geneva and Lake Neuchâtel. Then, in September, we used it on a mission, this time in the Aegean Sea, during our first campaign of the project “Ancient port-city of Eretria”.
