RS Aqua support CFIS in their bid to become Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE winners

RS Aqua have supplied Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE semi-finalists CFIS with a comprehensive suite of subsea engineered equipment for use on their developing swarm of underwater robots.

The equipment package consisted of: twelve custom rechargeable SubCtech Li-Ion batteries each providing up to 4500 Wh capacity; six VITROVEX glass instrument housings and optical hemispheres and eight Novatech locator beacons from MetOcean Telematics.

The CFIS team are one of 19 semi-finalists remaining in the competition hoping to claim their share of the $7 million XPRIZE fund by autonomously mapping the ocean floor at depths and at a resolution never achieved before. Between November 2017 and February 2018 the semi-finalists will have the opportunity to demonstrate that their technologies are capable of meeting the operational requirements necessary for rapid, unmanned, and high-resolution ocean floor mapping and exploration. Up to 10 teams will then progress to Round 2 where they will need to operate their vehicles at depths of up to 4000 m and map at least 50% of the 500 km² competition area at 5 m resolution. They must also identify and image at least ten archaeological, biological or geological features, all within 24 hours.