REVIEW article
Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Ocean Observation
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2025.1598701
Research Advances in Energy Management and Harvesting Technologies for Autonomous Profiling Floats
Provisionally accepted
- 1State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology, Tongji University, Shanghai, Shanghai Municipality, China
- 2Project Management Office of China National Scientific Seafloor Observatory, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
- 3School of Electronic and Information Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
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Autonomous profiling floats, such as the Argo floats, predominantly rely on battery power for their energy supply. However, the limited energy storage capacity of batteries imposes significant constraints on their operational lifespan, observation frequency, and the integration of advanced sensors, which has emerged as a critical bottleneck hindering long-term autonomous observations. To address this issue, researchers have explored two primary technical routes: optimizing energy consumption and harvesting energy. This review first systematically analyzes the research progress concerning the energy consumption characteristics of autonomous profiling floats. It then summarizes the key technical strategies and advancements in current energy consumption optimization efforts across four domains: hydraulic system, sensor system, satellite communication system, and control algorithm. Subsequently, the paper reviews the developments and challenges associated with self-powered autonomous profiling floats, with a particular focus on the application of phase-change-material (PCM)-based thermal energy harvesting technology. Finally, the paper proposes that future endeavors should concentrate on advancing energy management and energy development technologies. These include the adoption of Edge Artificial Intelligence (Edge AI) technology for intelligent energy management, flexible solar cells and underwater photovoltaic technologies, Triboelectric Nanogenerator (TENG) technology for wave energy harvesting, novel thermal energy harvesting techniques, and hybrid energy harvesting solutions. By promoting energy diversification and enhancing efficiency, these innovations can strengthen the energy security for autonomous profiling floats and meet the increasing demands for scientific observation.
Keywords: Autonomous profiling floats, ARGO, Low power strategy, Energy harvesting technology, blue energy, In situ oceanic observations
Received: 23 Mar 2025; Accepted: 21 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yu, YANG, Ji and Zhou. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Qunhui YANG, State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, Shanghai Municipality, China
Fuwu Ji, State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, Shanghai Municipality, China
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