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The Hawaiian Autonomous Undersea Robot

Posted by samzenpus on from the robots-love-water dept.

Roland Piquepaille writes "After several years of research, engineers from the University of Hawaii are now testing the first autonomous robotic vehicle for deep-ocean work in the U.S. This robot is called SAUVIM, short for Semi-Autonomous Underwater Vehicle for Intervention Missions. It's roughly the size of an SUV and it is designed to operate to a depth of about 4 miles. With its computers, its sensors, and a 5-foot, 150-pound autonomous manipulator, or robotic arm, it will be able to move towards a specific target, such as a wrecked pipe laying on the ocean floor -- and maybe fix it. Right now, this robot has an autonomy of about eight hours, but this range should soon be extended when the researchers move from batteries to fuel cells to power the undersea vehicle. This overview contains other details, references and several pictures of this autonomous submarine engine."

4 of 92 comments (clear)

  1. 'SAUVIM'? by TripMaster+Monkey · · Score: 4, Funny


    What a terrible acronym! Let's see if we can come up with some better ones.

    Here's my contribution:

    Semi
    Autonomous
    Underwater
    Robot
    Over
    Network

    Pease post your ideas below:

    --
    ____

    ~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey

    1. Re:'SAUVIM'? by 01000011011101000111 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Semi
      Autonomous
      Underwater
      Exploration
      Robot
      Kinetically
      Removing
      Aberations
      Under
      Time-constraints
      Any good?

      --
      Programming is an Art. I am an Artist. Does that mean I get to wear a daft hat?
  2. Google's next move.. by jmcmunn · · Score: 4, Funny


    ocean.google.com

    I see it now, google maps for the ocean floor. I bet they buy this robot and start compiling their data asap. C'mon, first the moon and now this!!??

  3. Completely Autonomous? by MindNumbingOblivion · · Score: 4, Funny
    So, is this thing completely autonomous, as in, it sits out there and just looks for stuff to fix? No input from humans whatsoever?

    Think about all the wonderful things it could fix!

    Like a whale it hears singing.

    Detecting signal on anomalous frequency...
    Current Position: over SONET line in mid Pacific
    MOVE TO REPAIR MOST URGENT
    ::Dreams of all the wonderful friends the repairbot would meet on his travels. Unfortunately he would be so lonely as all the sealife runs away.::
    Why won't they let me fix them?
    --
    #define CLUE 0