Legged Vehicle for Underwater Mobile Operations

There is a need to develop an underwater ambulatory robot that will exhibit improved capabilities for shallow water operation. Such a vehicle could not only be used for commercial applications such as exploration of ocean bottoms for marine biology, oceanography, bottom topography, mining, harbor pollution assessment, etc., but in addition would be ideal for military missions such as landing site survellance and shllow water mine identification and elimination. A walking robot is superior to a swimming robot for these types of applications. For example, the unit is continually in contact with the sea floor, so it is less affected by currents and wave action, and it can be remotely controlled to perform any desired task on the ocean floor. The robot will be a stable platform that can contain a wide variety of different sensors, including tactile sensors, a High-Resolution, High-Frequency Sonar System, chemical sensors, video sensors, etc. The program will be carried out by an interdisciplinary team of experts from both Massa Products Corporation and Northeastern University. The concepts are based on current development programs at both organizations.