Rutgers Attempts Robot Atlantic Crossing 67
RUCOOL writes "Rutgers University students and staff launched a Slocum glider AUV in an attempt to be the first such vehicle to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Progress so far is good, but it will be a long 6- to 9-month journey. Status as well as other information can be tracked here. Media links can be found in the lower left section of page, among images, and storyline blogs." And Google Earth fans can track the vehicle's progress, too.
Re:Scarlet Knight (Score:4, Informative)
Its the universities mascot.
Re:Xcom (Score:3, Informative)
http://rucool.marine.rutgers.edu/atlantic/about_gliders.html [rutgers.edu]
Re:6-9 months? (Score:5, Informative)
We will soon be exiting the Gulf Stream which means things will start to move a lot slower and many more challenges will be thrust upon us.
from http://rucool.marine.rutgers.edu/atlantic/ [rutgers.edu]
also see here for an explanation of how it moves:
http://rucool.marine.rutgers.edu/atlantic/about_gliders.html [rutgers.edu]
What about a payload? (Score:4, Informative)
Y'know, like a few kg of coke.
Re:Re tasking (Score:3, Informative)
You do understand the United States has had a very significant interest in underwater vehicles approaching it's shores, right?
Indeed they do. But I'd imagine these things are pretty quiet.
FTFA:
[...] underwater gliders move around by changing their buoyancy, that is they change their density such that they alternate between more dense and less dense than the surrounding ocean water. This change in buoyancy causes the glider to rise and sink in the ocean. The glider changes its density by moving a small piston forward and back that increases and decreases its volume. You may remember that you can calculate the density of an object by taking its mass and dividing that by the object's volume. Since the mass of the glider remains constant, all we need to do is change its volume. A small change in volume (about a half cup of water) is all the glider needs to change its density enough to rise and sink in the ocean.
I would imagine these things are pretty quiet. Run them about 50 feet underwater and I doubt the government would be able to hear them.