Turkish students did: They will extract oil and minerals from the seas

Istanbul Technical University (ITU) students developed the unmanned underwater vehicle Kaşif, which can perform many tasks at sea. The unmanned underwater vehicle “Explorer” developed by university students will search for oil in the sea. The “Explorer” to be used to find oil under water is on display at TEKNOFEST BLACK SEA, held at Samsun Çarşamba Airport.

Istanbul Technical University (ITU) students developed the “Explorer”, an unmanned underwater vehicle that can perform many tasks such as mining underwater.

The underwater vehicle “Explorer” (EXPLORER) to be used in many tasks such as underwater research, missions at depths where humans cannot reach, search and rescue works, installation, maintenance and repair of offshore platforms and underwater pipelines, underwater habitat dredging, mineral exploration. EXPLORER MARK 2) is on display at TEKNOFEST BLACK SEA, held at Samsun Çarşamba Airport.

Hasan Fatih, a 3rd year Computer Engineering student at Istanbul Technical University, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that he has been working in the ITU ROV team, which was established to develop underwater robots, for 2 years.

Expressing that the team has been working on unmanned water vehicles for about 6 years, Fatih said that there was a 2-year R&D activity in the production of Kaşif, then a test phase of one and a half years.

Expressing that Kaşif is a vehicle designed to carry out technical and structural analysis under water, and to carry out mining and similar explorations, Fatih said, “It can also act as a convoy during the journey to ships. Apart from that, it can perform technical tasks under water. Welding and similar things… Thanks to the robotic arms in front of him, he can take things out and collect them.” said.

“People can do their risky tasks”

Pointing out that Kaşif can work in pressure and cold waters where people cannot descend, Fatih said:

“Until now, we have been able to go down to depths of 150-200 meters in our tests. When you add different materials to the vehicle, it can go down to a depth of 1000-2 thousand meters, or even 3 thousand-3 thousand 500 meters in more difficult conditions, and search for mines and similar things there. Apart from that, it is used in oil exploration missions. can be used.

Thanks to the sonar on it, it can perform structural analysis tests. Thanks to these sonars, it can see possible targets. It can make necessary interventions in places where transportation is made, such as oil pipes under water, water pipes transported to Cyprus, and can be used for welding and similar tasks there. It can be used to renew them, fix them and detect problems there. Mapping the area there and can predict underwater threats in various situations. In general, it works at depths where humans cannot work. Humans can do risky tasks. “

Underlining that the vehicle was produced with national and domestic facilities, Fatih said, “I can say that there is a locality rate of over 80 percent at the moment. In the following stages, this vehicle will be able to perform much higher-level tasks on an industrial scale. Undiscovered underwater mines in the seas will be explored with this type of vehicle. This area is 20 It will become more important in 30 years.” he said.