Jessica Gould
Intellichek Mobilisa created the solar-powered buoy for the Navy. It can detect radiation and environmental contaminants.
The goal of this buoy, called Aegeus, is to protect the
Nation's Capital from any radiation that may be coming up the Potomac
River.
Aegeus is bright yellow, and observant, with cameras and
sensors that detect the kind of radiation that might come from a dirty
bomb. It monitors information all day long and then it transmits it to a
control center. So scientists back on shore would receive a signal if
something was not behaving appropriately, and they would respond
appropriately.
Steve Williams, CEO of Intellicheck Mobilisa, the
company that developed Aegeus for the Navym says the idea for the buoy
was born after the USS Cole bombing in 2000 when technicians were
searching for a way to detect threats in the water. The company placed
it on a narrow stretch of the Potomac near the Harry Nice Memorial
Bridge so it could help protect D.C. But Williams says the solar-powered
Aegeus, which began bobbing in the river last fall, can also have an
environmental mission.
"So let's say there’s an oil spill off
shore somewhere," he says. "If you put the buoys somewhere off the shore
line, you would be able to sense an oil spill way before it ever came
ashore."
The buoy tests pH, salinity levels and algae blooms and
then transmits the data to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration's buoy center.
Randy Witter spent his career with
the Maryland Natural Resources Police and now owns a marine construction
company close to the buoy. He says while there's no substitute for
humans, the buoy does have advantages.
"The state government and I
don't think the federal government can pay people to come out here and
sit 24 hours a day, seven days a week," says Witter.
And now, he says he feels a little bit safer. Because Aegeus is watching.
http://wamu.org/news/11/07/26/new_buoy_seeks_to_boost_security.php
Penulis : Drs.Simon Arnold Julian Jacob
