MRes Scholarship: Exploring the use of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles in gathering data on the fine scale movements of fish.

To view full details of this project please visit: http://kess2.ac.uk/buk2129/

Automated Underwater Vehicles (AUV’s) are now being routinely used to collect a range of data within the marine environment. In order to address knowledge gaps in fish movement ecology, Tidal Lagoon Power and Bangor University are exploring the use of AUV’s in gathering data on the fine scale movements of migratory and coastal marine fish species.

This one year KESS 2 MRes studentship will focus on the development and integration of the acoustic and navigation system of the AUV, and will be based in the College of Physical and Applied Sciences at Bangor University, working within a multi-disciplinary team of electronic engineers, computer scientists and fish biologists together with the commercial partner, Tidal Lagoon Power.

The KESS 2 student will work to produce the following:

- Agent-based software models for simulating the behaviour of coastal water fish species and for simulating the operation of the AUV for tracking tagged fish.

- Software for the operation of the AUV. This will involve the development of algorithms needed to direct the AUV and maintain it at a set distance as it follows the target individual. The software will use the MOOS-IvP software package developed at MIT which is a set of open source C++ modules for providing autonomy on robotic platforms, in particular autonomous marine vehicles.

- Experimental results from field trials for testing the operation of the AUV.

- The integration of the software developed in point 2 with the hardware platform upon which the system is to be built. This will involve specifying, assembling and testing the AUV itself, the additional sensors required for acoustic tracking, and building the electronic interface between the acoustic tracking equipment and the AUV platform.
This is a fully funded one year, full time MRes studentship which will cover tuition fees with around £3k budget for equipment, travel and training opportunities.

This studentship is an exciting opportunity to work at the cutting edge of autonomous systems and work within a multi-disciplinary team developing technology that will be used to answer questions that have been bugging ecologists for years.

Eligibility of Student:
To be eligible for a KESS 2 studentship, you must:

- Have a home address in the Convergence Area (details below)* at the time of registration.
- Have the right to take up paid work in the Convergence Area* on completion of the scholarship.
- Be classified by the University as ‘home’ or ‘EU’ for tuition fees purposes according to the University’s guidelines.
- Satisfy Bangor University’s admissions criteria: see below, qualifications and experience and application process.

*The Convergence Area covers West Wales and the Valleys, and is made up of the following 15 local authorities: Isle of Anglesey, Gwynedd, Conwy, Denbighshire, Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Bridgend, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen.

Qualifications and experience:
An undergraduate degree in Computer Science or related discipline with at least a 2:1 qualification, or equivalent.

Application Process:
To apply, please e-mail a CV and covering letter, in the first instance, to Jenny Whitmore : [Email Address Removed] and Dr Bill Teahan : [Email Address Removed] . Please cc to Dr Penny Dowdney : [Email Address Removed]

For any queries on eligibility, please contact the KESS 2 Team at Bangor on 01248382266 / [Email Address Removed]

Closing date for applications: Midnight 1st December 2017

Read more about the background of the project on this news article: http://kess2.ac.uk/understanding-our-oceans/