Schematic view of Odyssey IV, a robot submarine capable of turning around its axis without having to move.

The submarine robots occupy the second place among the most robots used by humans, being exceeded only by industrial robots. So far, however, they had a very big limitation: how the sharks, they can only be operated is continuously moving forward.

This limitation appears quite serious in robots used in scientific research, limiting their ability to maneuver and observation and greatly increasing duration of the tasks set by the needs of coleta to go and come only to slightly change their position.

Robot-submarine helicopter -

Now, the MIT researchers are building the first submarine robot that can turn like a helicopter, on its own axis, without leaving the place.

Baptism of Odyssey IV, the new robot submarine will be used by oil companies, archaeologists and scientific missions to collect samples on the seabed.

Full Control

The mechanisms which enable the Odyssey IV rotate on its axis also let him stop at any depth and correct its position constantly in response to the movement of sea currents and obstacles encountered in their path.

“People want to be able to work in the ocean and float to stop and do a specific task. Until now, you could just go on a field, taking a picture, then go again and take another photo. Now, we can stop on a scene of interest, stay there and make measurements. We will be able to observe the underwater regions with much more detail, “says researcher Chryssostomos Chryssostomidis.