[PSUBS-MAILIST] Johns Hopkins technology will guide hybred undersea robot

[Coalbunny <coalbunny@vcn.com>]

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-12/jhu-jht120803.php

Navigation and control systems to be developed in collaboration with
Hopkins researchers

The robotic "brain" that will steer a new remotely operated vehicle
through the deepest parts of the world's oceans will employ technology
devised by engineers at The Johns Hopkins University.

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) recently received $5
million in funding to design and construct a self-powered undersea robot
capable of descending 11,000 meters or 36,000 feet, deeper than any
existing research vehicle. The new robot is described as a hybrid
because it will be able to operate either connected to a fiber optic
umbilical or in a free-swimming mode. The navigation and control systems
will employ technology developed by Louis Whitcomb, an associate
professor in the Whiting School of Engineering's Department of
Mechanical Engineering at Johns Hopkins.

Whitcomb also is an adjunct scientist in the Deep Submergence Laboratory
at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Navigation and control
systems developed for the JHU ROV, an underwater robot based at Johns
Hopkins, have been adapted for use in Jason 2 and DSL120A, two robotic
research vehicles developed by WHOI. Whitcomb's navigation system also
is being used by Alvin, an inhabited undersea vehicle, also developed by
WHOI. The navigation system enables an undersea vehicle to determine its
exact position on Earth; the control system allows it to maneuver in a
highly precise manner.

For the new hybrid vehicle, Whitcomb, his collaborators at WHOI and his
students at Johns Hopkins' Baltimore campus will expand and enhance
their existing systems. The team will produce computer hardware and
software that will be installed on the hybrid vehicle itself. "The new
hybrid vehicle project will allow us to build on our existing knowledge
and contribute to an innovative type of underwater robot that will, we
hope, significantly extend the reach of oceanographic research at
extreme depths," Whitcomb said.

The four-year project is led by WHOI's Andrew Bowen, with WHOI's Dana
Yoerger, and Whitcomb as co-investigators. The project is funded by the
National Science Foundation, the U.S. Navy and the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration. "This project will provide a great
opportunity for collaboration among researchers, engineers and students
from Woods Hole, Johns Hopkins, MIT and the U.S. Navy," Whitcomb said.


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