Merging of Computers and Robotics:

 By: Matt Billiot

In today’s world robotics have become very common, and is useful in under water exploration. The use of robots to explore the world’s oceans has become more advanced and useful. Stanford and Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) engineers designed a system that lets AUVs (autonomous underwater vehicles) to be able to detect objects in their way. It allows these robots to get pictures of the deep and scurry around the ocean. Since the AUVs can take multiple pictures in the same place has helped scientist look at the ocean and the deep ocean floor. A conservation biologist may want to see how marine species and its habitats are doing after a bottom trawling. A bottom trawling is a technique where a boat drags a fishing net over the floor of the ocean (another name for bottom trawling is dragging). The AUVs don’t change or damage anything for the different species and returns in the ocean; also can help measure the climate’s change. Taking pictures of the ocean floor isn't new at all. Sarah Houts a system software designer, made by her, has designed a program that allows vehicles to twist through ravines and other natural obstacles that are dangerous for underwater vehicle. Until now, scientists are able to control these tough spaces to be able to remotely steer a vehicle while being on another ship themselves. This operation is very expensive and not very capable of doing for explorations using monitoring periodically of the ocean ground. Stephen Rock, who is the director of Aerospace Robotics Laboratory, said, “It allows much greater flexibility. Aquarium researchers from the aquarium research institute have recently made AUVs that can make images of the ocean’s floor by themselves, but only on level places. Other researchers and Rock, himself, think that the most interesting science is hidden in canyons that steep down and other interesting areas. Rock said that we need to go into interesting places. Houts wants to make anticipory technology for a project that is similar to the MBARI so they can monitor changes and icebergs.

http://phys.org/news/2012-11-underwater-robots-smart-explore-treacherous.html