Chomp: Liquid Robotics' Wave Glider Meets a Shark

When Liquid Robotics built the Wave Glider they certainly did not expect their device to be attacked by a shark, but that is just what happened as per the CEO Bill Vass, the CEO of Liquid Robotics. He said that the ocean wave powered Wave Glider was cruising a hundred miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico when it was attacked.

Bill Vass, a former Sun Microsystems employee is now the CEO of the start-up Liquid Robotics which is building these robotic vehicles to help with ocean studies. He said that this particular Wave Glider was on mission for BP this spring when it reported that not all was well.

Once it was back at the base the damaged robot was seen to have 12- 14 inch bite marks on it. This is an extremely rare opportunity for Liquid Robotics whose Wave Gliders have combed 150,000 miles combined.

The Wave Gliders are powered by the motion of the waves being converted into energy. The table sized structure has a grid of vanes that are forced to move up and down along with the wave motion generating forward thrust for the robotic vehicle. They can theoretically roam the seas for years without any fuel needs.