Humans have invented various autonomous underwater drones for scientific purposes and more. Some examples include the AutonomousRiver Cleaner (ARC) that uses bubbles and AI to clear plastic from rivers, or MERMAIDs which deep-sea dive to explore the ocean floor.
There’s now a new drone in town called the Seasam, which is capable of wirelessly filming underwater objects while shooting HD video with complimentary audio. The device is able to follow and spot divers and keep them in center frame, functioning well even in low visibility conditions and at night. It uses sonar to guide itself and avoid obstacles, which allows for increased diver safety and a better catalog of visual data from diving missions.
The user-friendly underwater drone
Users can control the drone through a remote or even their mobile device. This machine also has a GPS tracker built in, allowing scientists to pinpoint positions of anything of interest spotted by the drone.
This AI powered drone has impressed scientists due to its easy-to-use nature, impressive video quality, and its speed. Some of its many potential uses include checking underwater infrastructure for maintenance, search and rescue missions, underwater exploration, and biological and environmental research.
Researchers can use the Seasam to improve the accuracy and speed of their underwater research. The energetic pursuit of knowledge about our oceans comes in a scientific interest to expand various fields and also, perhaps more importantly, to gain valuable insight which might help us save and preserve our ecosystems.
It is not, however, limited to only scientific and practical pursuits. In addition to aiding science and safety, the Seasam can also level up underwater filming. It has recently been featured and used to shoot the underwater thriller The Deep House, where a scuba-diving couple explores a haunted house in the depths of the ocean. With further improvement and in more hands, who knows what other applications the Seasam may find.
