With the recent successful field test of a submarine drone a new milestone has been reached in the BONUS SEAMOUNT collaboration. 

The cuttlefish look-alike subwater drone called Sea Sentinel have completed a four day unmanned field test in the Baltic Sea with flying colours. Loaded with 100 kilos worth of scentfic equipment it was send out beneath the waves to fend for itself while collecting both footage and measurements of different kinds.

During the four days the Sea Sentinel spent underwater it collected over 100 GB of data before returning to a docking station and being retrieved by the NOA Marine Robotics team.

“During the Baltic sea in-field demo session, vehicles presented unmatched performance in terms of payload capacity, power, energy consumption, maneuverability and safety,” says NOA CEO Michal Latacz and adds that the Sea Sentinel has visited sites of special interest containing magnetic signature objects, underwater structures and even a submarine wreck.

The aim is to get the Sea Sentinel to do 300 days a year of continous work at sea collecting data. The more time the drone is able to spend at sea collecting data, the more information scientists have without the constraints of hiring an expensive research vessel for days or weeks.

Watch footage from the Sea Sentinel field-test: