A new automated submarine is being put through its paces in Cape Code, Massachusetts. Unlike many automated underwater vehicles (UAVs), the Odyssey IV can hover underwater, which allows it to hold station and examine or manipulate objects underwater. It has an empty belly that can be filled with cameras, sensors or a remote controlled arm. According to Franz Hover of MIT, “The first task will be to grab something, anything,”, which makes me glad I’m not going to be diving anywhere near Cape Code in the foreseeable future!
It should also be possible to program the sub to automatically recognise certain features such as corals, and then take a particular action such as hovering and taking photos or video.
Its first scientific mission is likely to be examining and sampling deep water corals for Jess Adkins, who is a chemical oceanographer at Caltech in Pasadena. He hopes to use the chemical record to reconstruct oceanic climate shifts.
Odyssey IV was developed by the US Government and MIT, and some funding came from Chevron. The above photo is from the New Scientist, and you can read an article on their website.
