Eco Factor: Autonomous turbines to move freely in water to capture underwater currents.
We have already seen many kinds of turbines harness power from the winds. How about underwater turbines moving freely in water to capture the shifting current? Sounds really interesting! Darris White, associate mechanical engineering professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida is working on building a swarm of underwater turbines that could trap energy. He is developing a control algorithm that will allow autonomous turbines to float together.
Behaving like schools of fish, these autonomous turbines would be tethered to each other, allowing them to move in synchronization to tap underwater currents. These turbines that wouldn’t require to be affixed to one spot on the seafloor will communicate with each other through their sensors. Researches claim that there is 21,000 times more energy in that underwater stream than Niagara Falls, holding the potential to power more a million households, so harnessing the power of underwater currents could prove to be more fruitful.
Via: Discovery News
