SeaBED Robot Maps Underwater Wreck

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) reports on their successful use of a robot in underwater archaeology.

The target was an underwater wreck of a wooden Greek merchant ship that sank off Chios and Oinoussia islands in the eastern Aegean Sea. Since the wreck was too deep for conventional diving, the team used SeaBED, an "Autonomous Underwater Vehicle" (ie a robot).

SeaBED was created by Hanumant Singh and his team at the WHOI Deep Submergence Laboratory. During a three hour dive the robot used sonar and digital cameras to record a detailed map of the wreck and its contents. It was able to do this without disturbing the wreck.

WHOI estimate that without SeaBED the task would have taken years using normal scuba diving.