Wisdom

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Monday, December 19, 2011

Hybrid Buoy Concept

Navigating through heavy sea traffic at ports just got easier with designers, Tae Hoon Lee and Sung Yong Kim having introduced the Hybrid Energy Buoy. Emergence of rising maritime trade demands support from reliable means of navigation. Though this lead to the existence of the the lighthouses, beacons, buoys and such other guides, which aids the navigator to a safe anchorage, a need for something better has always been felt.
 
Benefits of the Hybrid Buoys

Promising to benefit the navigators in more than one way, the Hybrid Energy Buoy runs with the backup of avant-garde technology. Maintaining it at sea is not going to be any difficult, since it is self sufficient, unlike the buoys of earlier times which were by and large hollow barrel like structures, made out of wood. The earlier buoys were fastened with bands of iron and anchored with a huge boulder and a chain. But these buoys might change the whole conventional outlook towards buoys.

The Hybrid Energy Buoy is self sufficient, and hence, the port authorities or crew do not need to worry about reinstating batteries and other miscellaneous errands. Electricity is directly generated on the face of the objects, when light confronts the top portion of the buoy.  This allows solar cell energy to be produced and then utilized. The buoy also employs energy created from the movements of the ocean water, the technology that has been referred to as the EPAM (Electoactive polymer artificial muscle), which inducts about 5w of electricity each second.

Working

The sun light would reflect on the bright orange outer surface of the buoy and the dark skies of the night would be lit up by the LED lights with high intensity. This would avoid collision of ships and will act as a dependable guide to the sea-farers. A GPS system is installed into the buoy and the contraption will move self-directed, in case of difficulties like red tide etc, with the help of automatic steering equipment and rudder.

The Hybrid Buoy device can also be radio controlled which only adds up to the convenience. RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) technology is used to trace the location of the buoy and control it.

Thus the hybrid buoy concept is a total eco-friendly buoy with some great features such as solar energy generation, automatic steering equipment, EPAM device utilizing the wave motion, and an integrated anchor.

References and Image Credit

http://yankodesign.com

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