Vehicles

The Deep Submergence Laboratory builds and operates a variety of underwater vehicles. Below is a list of vehicles that are currently in development or being operated by the lab.

Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs)

ROV Jason/Medea;
Jason/Medea is a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) system designed and built by WHOI’s Deep Submergence Laboratory. A 10-kilometer (6-mile) tether relays electrical power, control signals, data and live video imagery between a surface ship and the vehicle.
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Hybrid Remotely Operated Vehicle (HROV)

Hybrid Remotely Operated Vehicle (HROV) Nereus
Currently in development, Nereus will operate in two modes; as an autonomous, or free-swimming, vehicle for wide area surveys and as a tethered, or cabled, vehicle for sampling and other tasks.
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Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs)

AUV Sentry
The autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) Sentry is following in the wake of its predecessor, ABE, as a fully autonomous underwater vehicle capable of exploring the ocean down to 4,500 meters (14,764 feet) depth.
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AUV Jaguar
Jaguar was designed to hover in place—like a helicopter or hummingbird—and collect photographs and high-resolution sonar maps of deep ocean vent sites.
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AUV Puma
Also known as the "plume mapper," the Puma autonomous underwater vehicle uses sonar, lasers, and chemical sensors to search wide areas near the ocean floor and detect the telltale temperature, chemical, or particulate signals from hydrothermal vent plumes.
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AUV SeaBed
SeaBED is an AUV that can fly slowly or hover over the seafloor to depths of 6,000 feet (2,000 meters), making it particularly suited to collect highly detailed sonar and optical images of the seafloor.
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Last updated: May 21, 2008