www.houghtonlakeresorter.com Outdoors/Happenings Houghton Lake Resorter, November 23, 2017 • C7

C7

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Holiday Hours MidMichigan Urgent Care - Houghton LakeThursday, November 23 ClosedFriday, November 24 9 a.m. – 9 p.m.Sunday, December 24 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.Monday, December 25 ClosedSunday, December 31 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.Monday, January 1 Closed

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LAUNCHING IN HIGGINS(Left to right) USGS Fishery Biologist Chris Holbrook and MSU engineering doctoral student Osama Ennasr lower Grace 2.1 into Higgins Lake during the robotic fish’s first field trial Nov. 3. (Photo by Xiaobo Tan)

SEARCHING FOR SUNKEN ROBOTA USGS work boat searches an area off the West Shore DNR access sight Nov. 3 for a robotic fish that sunk during a field trial. The device, dubbed Robofish, is being developed by the MSU Smart Microsystems Lab, USGS, Great Lakes Fishery Commission and the National Science Foundation. Robofish (a.k.a. Grace 2.1) was undergoing its first field trial, and was recovered from the bottom in 60 feet of water. (Photo by Thomas Reznich)

PREPARING FOR DEPLOYMENT

Michigan State University doctoral students (left to right)

Osama Ennasr and Pratap Bhanu prepare Grace 2.1 for its first field trial at the DNR West Shore boat

launch on Higgins Lake Nov. 3. (Photo by Xiaobo Tan)

By Thomas ReznichBoat watchers on Higgins Lake

know that most of the watercraft seen on the lake are of the pleasure boat or fishing boat varieties. They also know that there are usually very few watercraft of any kind on the lake during the month of November.

So when residents noticed a work boat on the lake Nov. 3, manned by a crew of five in bright orange jump suits, they naturally wondered what was up.

The work boat was a 26-footer belonging to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Station at Hammond Bay, and the crew was made up of three researchers from the Smart Mi-crosystems Lab (SML) at Michigan State University and two USGS per-sonnel.

Their purpose was to conduct a field trial of Grace 2.1, a.k.a. Ro-bofish, a “gliding robotic fish” be-

ing developed by the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, USGS and the National Science Foundation. According to Xiaobo Tan, SML di-rector and one of the crew members on Higgins Lake Nov. 3, “the trial tested the navigation and tag-detec-tion performance of the robot and its graphical user interface.” The robot is being developed for use in fish tracking in the Great Lakes.

Tan said that compared with Grace 2.0, which debuted last year, Grace 2.1 has a number of electrical and mechanical systems upgrades, including a pair of “fish” eyes.

“The trial was largely successful, except for a leak during the latter part of the test, which gave the team an opportunity to carry out a search and recovery exercise as well!” said Tan.

Grace 2.1 takes a swim in Higgins Lake

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ANOTHER BIG ONEGary Townsend, 70, of Prudenville, shot this beautiful 10-point in Clare County on opening day. Townsend said he shot the buck, which came in chasing a doe, at around 10 a.m. He said the buck was the second or third largest he has bagged in 56 years of hunting. (Photo by Thomas Reznich)

Author Mark Jager will visit the Richfield Township Public Library Nov. 29 at 6:30 p.m. to discuss his book series “Mystic Michigan.”

The series consists of eight volumes of actual natural phenomenon and bi-zarre oddities that exist all throughout Michigan – for instance, there are places in Michigan where one could put a car in neutral at the bottom of a hill and it will seem to roll uphill. Patrons can learn about raining fish in Michigan, tornados of fire and green sunsets.

Those who enjoy exploration and have a flare for the unusual will appre-ciate the “Mystic Michigan” series. All readers will enjoy discovering the true uniqueness of the State of Michigan and learning about its unsolved, scientific mysteries and strange historical facts.

Mark Jager is also the author of “Mystic Michiganders” and “The Hid-den Hand,” his latest novel. The author visit is a free event and reservations are not necessary.

The library is located at 1410 North St. Helen Rd. in St. Helen. Call the li-brary at 389-7630 for information.

Author Mark Jager to visit Richfield Township Public Library

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