Wind and solar-powered sailing drones process data at the edge

These sailing vessels are marine data collection machines which require energy-efficient computing at the edge to handle intensive data processing while running mostly on solar and wind power.

“With solar power, being able to keep our compute load power efficiency lower than a typical computing platform running GPUs by implementing NVIDIA Jetson is important for enabling us to do these kinds of missions,” says Saildrone’s  Blythe Towal.

The USVs’ data collection technology has tracked hurricanes up close in the North Atlantic, discovered a 3,200-foot underwater mountain in the Pacific Ocean and begun to help map the entirety of the world’s ocean floor.

Saildrone’s USVs) carry a wide range of sensors from which the data streams are  processed at the edge  on NVIDIA Jetson modules optimised with the NVIDIA DeepStream SDK for video analytics.

Saildrone is seeking to make ocean intelligence collection cost-effective, offering data-gathering systems for science, fisheries, weather forecasting, ocean mapping and maritime security.

Saildrone recently partnered with Seabed 2030 to completely map the world’s oceans. 

Seabed 2030 is a collaboration between the Nippon Foundation and the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans, or GEBCO, to map ocean floors worldwide by 2030..

Saildrone USVs enable researchers to collect more data using fewer resources than traditional boats and crews, conserving energy and keeping crews out of danger.

The USVs are built for harsh weather and long missions. One of its USVs recently completed a 370-day voyage monitoring carbon dioxide, sailing from Rhode Island across the North Atlantic to Cabo Verde, down to the equator off the west coast of Africa, and back to Florida.