Autonomous craft explores the deep.

• Author: Williams, Robert H.
• Position: Pennsylvania Applied Research Laboratory - Brief Article

A 30-foot unmanned underwater vehicle developed by Penn State's Applied Research Laboratory is performing an array of underwater tasks for the Navy. This improved version of the Seahorse is powered by more than 9,000 standard D alkaline batteries.

The craft, which can cruise at a depth of 1,000 feet, has been successfully tested in Lake Erie and the Bahamas. In the second exercise, Seahorse was launched from a Trident submarine missile tube. The autonomous craft has collected oceanographic...