Much innovation in subsea robotics starts in academia, and the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton, UK, is a global leader with a fleet of more than 40 systems and 60 engineers and
Much innovation in subsea robotics starts in academia, and the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton, UK, is a global leader with a fleet of more than 40 systems and 60 engineers and scientists. Alex Phillips, is the Head of Marine Autonomous Robotic Systems (MARS) at NOC, and Marine Technology recently caught up with him in his workshop to discuss key drivers in the evolution of efficient, effective underwater autonomous systems.
Question: Alex, can you give us a brief career background and your role here at NOC?
ALEX:
I'm a naval architect by training. I thought I would go and design yachts for a living;, I got a little distracted, and started sinking things. About 15 years ago, I got involved in a student competition to design and build AUVs. And that was much more interesting than what I was doing for a real job at the time. I got to build these small AUVs, do all the software, do all the hardware, do all the electronics, to break them…they never really worked very well. But in that process, I got a real passion for building this kind of technology. So, I finished my PhD at Southampton, and then came down to
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