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Robotic Gliders Soar Underwater

Posted by michael on from the soon-to-be-militarized dept.

zymano writes "Yahoo has this tech news on ocean gliders that can go on journeys for hundreds of miles and last for weeks using pumps that push ballast water in and out to subtly change their buoyancy. This enables them to alternately rise and fall through the ocean as they glide forward. Oh , $60,000 if you want one." See our previous stories for more information.

2 of 208 comments (clear)

  1. Non military uses by Gothmolly · · Score: 5, Interesting

    How about free, albeit slow, cargo delivery? Get a tug to tow containers/gliders to a 'safe' distance from the traffic surrounding a port, point the glider at its destination, set its GPS coordinates, and let it go. 3 months later, your boxes of widgets arrive at their destination, where another tug picks up the stuff at the other end.

    No fuel
    No staff
    24x7 operation
    weather independent

    --
    I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
    1. Re:Non military uses by PPGMD · · Score: 5, Interesting
      Personally I highly doubt that it will work because during the Cold War the US deployed a series of Sonar nets through out the oceans to detect Soviet submarines.

      They are called the Sound Surveillance System (SOUS), word was that it could detect Soviet subs leaving their North Sea bases from the US.
      You can find more information here:
      http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/systems/sosus .htm