New Underwater Drone Lets YOU Explore Underwater

Featured Image Credit: OpenROV
By Kira Krall

Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) are an increasingly hot-ticket item in the science world. They’re light, cheap, and have the ability to transmit high-resolution images hundreds of meters away.

The above ROV, named Hercules, is pictured on its mission to map the wreck of the Titanic. The project was conducted in 2004. Image Credit: NOAA

In the past, exploring the benthos was an expensive and time-consuming process. Turbid conditions and rough waters can make SCUBA diving next to impossible. Some areas of study, like underwater caves and frozen lakes, are virtually inaccessible to divers or submersibles. ROVs are much cheaper than submersibles, with some models costing less than $1000. But even if scientists use their own ROVs, they need the manpower to pilot them and monitor what the ROV is seeing. That’s where citizen scientists come in.

Encouraging ROV use as a hobby is a win-win. It puts more volunteer eyes in the water and helps interested citizens explore their local waters. With careful observation, some individuals are able to discover trends and record observations. One citizen scientist in Seattle discovered an increasing amount of dead and dying sea stars by using her ROV. She reported her findings to local scientists who began studying the causes of the fatalities.

This new model of ROV, called “Trident” and pictured above, resembles an old-school tabletop projector. It’s lightweight, it’s fast, and it easily maneuvers around any underwater obstacle. It’s part of the OpenROV project that gives users the freedom to modify the software however they like. Trident is truly unlimited in movement due to its floating radio buoy that goes where the ROV goes. Image Credit: OpenROV

OpenROV hopes to open up ocean exploration to everyone, not just famous explorers with a lot of time and money on their hands. Anyone with $900 and a laptop, smartphone, or tablet to pilot the Trident can become a hometown Jacques Cousteau!

You can read more about the OpenROV project here.