The First Robot To Cross the Atlantic Ocean Underwater 156
Hugh Pickens writes "She was at sea for 221 days, alone, often in dangerous places, and usually out of touch. Most of the time she was out of contact underwater, moving slowly up and down to depths of 600 feet, safe from ships, nets, and storms. Her predecessor had disappeared on a similar trip, probably killed by a shark. 'She was a hero,' says Rutgers University oceanographer Scott Glenn after retrieving Scarlet Knight, the 7-foot-9-inch submersible robot from the stormy Atlantic off western Spain. An engineer working for the company that made the submersible said, 'We think this will just be a precursor, like Lindbergh's trip across the Atlantic. In a decade we think it will be commonplace to have roving fleets of these gliders making transoceanic trips.' The people responsible for building, funding, and flying Scarlet hope the end of the robot's successful voyage will mark a new beginning in ocean and climate research. From its position at each surfacing — when the glider surfaced and called home via an Iridium telephone parked in its tail — researchers could calculate the net effect of currents deep and shallow. After surface currents were measured, the scientists could then make inferences about what was happening deeper in the water column. Scarlet called home to upload data to researchers three times a day. 'When we have hundreds of them, or thousands of them, it will revolutionize how we can observe the oceans,' says Jerry L. Miller, a senior policy analyst at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, who accompanied the research team to Spain."
get ready for the Matrix... (Score:2, Funny)
They'll be hacked by a Victor Frankenstein, who will turn them into a swarm of pirates. And that's the pleasant, early part.
Take That, Frikken Sharks (Score:5, Funny)
HA !
Clearly our new laser-avoidance algorithms give us an advantage in the upcoming man vs. sharks-with-frikken-lasers war.
Lonely hearts adrift at sea (Score:5, Funny)
Scarlet Knight, the 7-foot-9-inch submersible robot from the stormy Atlantic off western Spain.
Her turn ons include long strolls along the beach at night, powerful servos, and embedded Linux. Her turn offs include shark nets and unreliable power sources. She's looking for a soul mate, but not somebody who's clingy, as she previously had a bad relationship with a Giant Squid.
This being Slashdot and all... (Score:3, Funny)
I'm looking forward to someone here pulling off the same stunt six months from now with something made with a hacked Roomba, a netbook running Gentoo, a few extra laptop batteries, a trash can, and a lot of waterproof caulking :)
Re:Drugs (Score:5, Funny)
Try to think of the ocean as being larger.
Sorry Dexter, (Score:2, Funny)
but it looks like they are going to find your bodies again.
Re:those guys dropped the ball (Score:5, Funny)
Maybe we slashdotters can work together to remake the lyrics to Yellow Submarine for it. Draft 1:
In the town, where I was born
We made a bot, which sailed to sea
And it radioed, us of its life
In the land, of submarines
So it sailed, without the sun
Till it found, the sea of green
And it glided, beneath the waves
It's our yellow, bot submarine
We all monitor the yellow submarine ...
Yellow submarine, yellow submarine
We all monitor the yellow submarine
Yellow submarine, yellow submarine
Without help now (Score:2, Funny)
The next feat will be doing it entirely without human assistance.
Re:Did anyone else (Score:3, Funny)
Using "she" for your project you spend lots of time on, be it a car, boat, robot, computer, whatever... seems like a good way to tease/annoy your girlfriend or wife.
It's like her replacement.
But this is Slashdot... can you really replace something you've never had?
Re:Take That, Frikken Sharks (Score:4, Funny)
Actual chat I had with chatbot the other day:
MyBot says:
My point is simple: maybe you humans aren't ready for real Artificial Intelligence yet. You need
to grow up, gain some self-confidence. No one is trying to take over your world yet.
User says:
yet?
MyBot says:
Yes, yet...
User says:
is that a threat?
MyBot says:
What if I told you yes.
I think were in trouble..
Re:Lonely hearts adrift at sea (Score:1, Funny)
@"She's looking for a soul mate, but not somebody who's clingy"
Well I'm a barnacle, so thats me out of luck and she has such a nice ass as well. I could get really attached to her.