A New Class of Deep-Sea Vehicles for Sample Collection

Deep sea exploration and retrieval of biological and geological samples is an expensive undertaking. Apart from the cost of designing and building vehicles for these functions, ship operations to support deep dives of piloted or remote-operated vehicles are only within reach of a few governmental and large private organizations. Autonomous-operated vehicles are less expensive. However, due to inefficient acoustic communications they are difficult to locate and control. We will design and test a new generation of deep-sea craft that will substantially reduce costs of sample collection. These vehicles will require small to modest support vessels, be simple to operate, readily controlled and tracked, and have efficient communication systems. They will be unmanned, eliminating the risk of injury and the need to maintain a pressure hull. The room saved can be used for sampling and instrumentation. The proposed vehicles will permit many more small organizations and businesses to participate in the future economic development of deep-sea natural resources.