ECU to Acquire Aquatic Robot for Coastal and Marine Research

Four researchers in the Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences Department of Biology at East Carolina University have secured a Major Research Instrumentation grant from the National Science Foundation. The $281,393 grant, awarded on Sept. 1, is for the acquisition of an Acoustic Wave Glider, an ocean-going, aquatic robot used for coastal and fisheries research.

Under the direction of Drs. Joseph J. Luczkovich, John P. Walsh, Mark W. Sprague and Roger A. Rulifson, the Acoustic Wave Glider will be custom built and ordered from Liquid Robotics, the company that manufactures the equipment. The researchers hope to have the glider constructed and delivered by December 2014 or January 2015 as a “Christmas present,” for the department and university.