Navy Develops ‘GhostSwimmer’ Drone That Looks Like a Shark #Cooltech #video It is the latest offering in what the U.S. military calls its science-fiction-turned-reality projects: the GhostSwimmer, a reconnaissance robot with an exterior shell built to look a lot like a shark cutting through the ocean depths. It’s the latest experimental addition to the Pentagon’s burgeoning fleet of unmanned underwater vehicles, or UUVs in Navy parlance. At university labs across the country, for example, the Navy is bankrolling the creation of robotic jellyfish, which mimic the efficient natural movements of the ocean creature and could one day prove useful in underwater surveillance. Recommended: The future of drones in the US There are also Office of Naval Research projects to mimic the nearly wake-free undulations of the eel. The GhostSwimmer is designed to recreate the propulsive power of the tuna fish, though it resembles a shark, complete with dorsal fin. Coming in at 5 feet in length, it weighs roughly 100 pounds and can operate in water depths ranging from 10 inches to 300 feet, according to the Navy. “GhostSwimmer will allow the Navy to have success during more types of missions while keeping divers and sailors safe,” said Michael Rufo, director of Boston Engineering’s Advanced System Group, which developed the UUV for the Navy, in a Navy press release. The Navy put it to work off the coast of Virginia Beach, Va., with sailors controlling its movements through the use of joysticks. It is part of a project named after a Disney fish — deemed Silent NEMO — developed by the chief of Naval Operations Rapid Innovation Cell, in which young Navy service members are often asked to quickly incorporate cutting-edge technologies into devices the military can use. In this case, it’s an effort to “take the lessons of Darwinism, and apply them,” says Christopher Harmer, senior naval analyst with the Institute for the Study of War, and the former deputy director of Future Operations for the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet. source: Anna Mulrine, Christian Science Monitor
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 15:30:00 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015