![National Oceanography Centre [logo]](/themes/NOC8X-main/logo.svg){kind=logo}
We’ve applied lessons learned from decades of hard-won experience at the forefront of ocean measurement to successive generations of ocean-going platforms and sensors. Tidal prediction methods used today across the world were conceived by us. The thousands of Argo floats in the oceans have their origins in the Swallow Float developed by us in the 1960s. We deployed one of the world’s first autonomous underwater vehicles in the mid 1990s; more recently, we pioneered using co-ordinated fleets of autonomous underwater and surface vehicles.
The NOC is a pioneer of ocean technology – pushing the boundaries of endurance and capability each time we make a deployment').appendTo('#hero .title-content'); // Append paragraph text to 'title.content' jQuery('
Technology Development
-
Autonomous Vehicles
Autonomous vehicles are the future of marine science. The ability to explore the oceans and collect data via unmanned, untethered robotic vehicles has greatly increased our scope of the oceans.
-
Instruments and Sensors
Oceanography is a science that is highly dependent on observations and measurements. Developing new instruments and sensors is important part of work undertaken at the NOC.
-
Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical engineers at the NOC provide engineering design, small-quantity manufacture, assembly and support for operations.
-
Electronics, Software and Communications
Gathering oceanographic data from autonomous vehicles over extended periods of time needs new, innovative battery technologies that are small, durable against the elements, and able to store vast amounts of energy.
Marine Autonomous and Robotic Systems
Oceanographers have driven the widespread use and acceptance of robotic and autonomous systems in the marine environment. The use of these platforms has transformed our ability to monitor the oceans by enabling autonomous, adaptive and persistent observations from the surface to the deepest depths and furthest reaches of the oceans.
More about Marine Autonomous Robotic SystemsTechnology Archive
The National Oceanography Centre – and its predecessor organisations – has been at the forefront of innovative marine technology development for decades.
More about our archived technology