Scientist may have done a great deal on Earth and in space, but the deep aquatic life still remains an unsolved mystery. Humans have tried their bit and now like the rovers for Mars, robots have been built for the deep ocean bottoms too. Benthic Rover is one such robot that has been patrolling the muddy ocean bottom, about 40 off the California coast, since July. It’s continuously providing scientist on land an entirely new view of the life and organism survival in deep blue waters.
Developed by the engineers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, the Benthic Rover besides monitoring the climate change impact on the ocean moves slowly down there photographing animals and sediments every three to five meters in the path. Like complexities in space, there are limitations down in water too; withstanding the seawater pressure has been a challenge that’s limited the marine research until. To make the Benthic Rover appropriate to deal with the three tones per square inch water pressure, the robot’s has been engineered with a shield custom made in titanium pressure spheres, wherein the electronics and the batteries of the rover are stationed. The robot weighing about 1400kg on land and only 45kg in seawater is also fitted with large yellow blocks of buoyant foam to keep it from sinking in the soft seabed.
Via: Eurekalert
