'JANUS' - Underwater Robots Could Learn a New Language
Satellites and mobile phones, built on international standards, help keep the world connected. But the communications technology used on land does not work well underwater. Researchers from the NATO Science and Technology Organization's Center for Maritime Research and Experimentation have now developed a standard for underwater acoustic communications called JANUS, opening up many underwater communication applications. The researchers are working to support effective underwater communication networks to allow undersea robots to work together, autonomously. If needed, the operation can be managed by land-based engineers who monitor all the communications from a command and control room ashore. The connection to land is made through gateway buoys on the surface of the water equipped with radio links to local support platforms or satellites.
Transcript
00:00:00 submarines and aquatic robots will now be able to speak the same underwater language researchers at NATO have developed the first-ever international standard for underwater communication it's called Janus robots are used for underwater research mining and military operations Janus could allow all of these different types of aquatic vessels to communicate there are international
00:00:22 standards for airwaves which is how we can connect over the internet and exchange data but up until now there wasn't a common protocol for robots or vessels to address each other underwater instead groups of robots use customized acoustic signals on many different frequencies to connect this meant that some robots could talk amongst themselves but not with other systems
00:00:44 now all underwater robots and vessels can use Janus to talk to each other with Janus two systems make contact at a particular frequency 11.5 kilohertz once they are connected they can either continue to communicate with Janus or they can switch to a new frequency for privacy or convenience to test Janus out at sea researchers set up a system of underwater tripods that emit acoustic
00:01:09 signals the tripods can send signals to each other and then send a performance report to researchers on shore along with the tripods on the seafloor researchers also tested Janus from the water surface using buoys to convert radio or Wi-Fi signals in the air to Janus signals underwater the goal is for Janus to create one big Network where underwater robots can communicate with
00:01:34 each other and with submarines buoys and ships in a sense Janus is the first step toward creating an underwater Internet you