UR 20 UR Issue 2 I Edit no TFMC

46

46

The PETRA AUV was established

to address global marine

challenges within the ocean

technology sector through

cutting-edge science, technology,

and collaboration. Its developers

say that at present, there is

nothing like it in the world.

The prototype is under

development, with the first

mission scheduled for May 2027 –

where it will remain on the seabed

for two weeks.

“In addition to the ability to descend to

6000m and the autonomy to remain on

the seabed for weeks, INESC TEC

researcher José Miguel Almeida

explained that it is “a highly innovative

system, due to the logistical support

function for deep-sea operations in

remote locations.

It will enable the transport and recovery

of equipment, eg, seabed sensor

nodes, the collection of the data they

record, and the recharging of their

batteries.

PETRA

INESCTEC OCEAN

is the first

Portuguese Centre

of Excellence fully

dedicated to Ocean

Research and

Engineering. It has

recently announced

the development of

PETRA, the Long-

Range Deep-Sea

Logistic AUV

AUVS