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Tiny Autonomous Submersible

Posted by michael on from the capsela dept.

dAzED1 writes "The BBC is reporting that Australian researchers have built a 40cm, self-controlling submarine that can dive to 5,000 meters. It's small enough that there is concern it could simply be eaten, or worse, used by the military. My question is, at 1 m/s, how does it get to 5km before the 1-day battery dies?"

8 of 58 comments (clear)

  1. One day? by adam+mcmaster · · Score: 4, Informative

    How does it do it in a day? Easy

  2. I predict that... by psyconaut · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...ThinkGeek will be selling this unit within 3 weeks complete with an 8ft "cubicle acquarium" to drive it around in! ;-)

    -psy

  3. The real question is... by KDan · · Score: 4, Funny

    How stupid do you feel after getting basic 10-year-old maths wrong in your slashdot submission :-P

    Daniel

    --
    Carpe Diem
    1. Re:The real question is... by BrokenHalo · · Score: 4, Funny

      No. Americans call maths math, while those of us in the English-speaking world call it mathematics or maths.

  4. What's next? by Engineer-Poet · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Keeping in mind that the little ship is good for "up to" a day (at what speed?) and that it would take 3 hours to get to depth and back at its top speed, how long will it take the makers to give it droppable ballast weights? You'd need two; one to ballast the positively-buoyant ship to neutral, and a second to give it extra weight to sink to depth without using its motors (thus saving the battery). Bonus points for using the weight to power a glide to points of interest instead of descending straight down.

    If hungry sea creatures are a problem, use some of that battery power to shock them, or shotgun-shell primers to scare them off.

    --

    Sustainability and energy independence essay
  5. New $700 toy.. by adeyadey · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There is more on the Serafina home page.

    Getting to 5000m should not be a problem of time, at 1 m/s, even though I wander whether that speed is possible vertically? Probably a bigger problem is communicating over 5km - maybe you need "relays" at intermediate depths. It seems that groups of them can act as a sort of network. I didnt see a lot of details on such things as coms distance, etc, tho I didnt dig very deep.

    As a toy for $700, I would even consider buying one.

    Hmmm, I wonder if you could mount a laser.. What do you mean, why?

    --
    "You lied to me! There is a Swansea!"
  6. battery life by Sogol · · Score: 4, Insightful
    How does it get to 5km before the 1-day battery dies?

    How much battery power do you think it takes to sink into the ocean?

  7. more info by Time_Ngler · · Score: 5, Informative

    Here is the main site...