Tiny Autonomous Submersible 58
dAzED1 writes "The BBC is reporting that Australian researchers have built a 40cm, self-controlling submarine that can dive to 5,000 meters. It's small enough that there is concern it could simply be eaten, or worse, used by the military. My question is, at 1 m/s, how does it get to 5km before the 1-day battery dies?"
One day? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:One day? (Score:2)
The real question is... (Score:5, Funny)
Daniel
Re:The real question is... (Score:1)
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I suppose about the same as getting basic 10-year-old grammar wrong in your Second Post.
Re:The real question is... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:The real question is... (Score:2)
Nothing wrong there.
Re:The real question is... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:The real question is... (Score:2)
Re:The real question is... (Score:1)
Re:The real question is... (Score:2)
Re:The real question is... (Score:2)
Or about the same as assuming that anyone who doesn't speak American English is stupid.
My question is, at 1 m/s, how does it get to 5km (Score:4, Informative)
I predict that... (Score:5, Funny)
-psy
at 700$US a pop (Score:3, Interesting)
Then I'll be heading to Lake Tahoe to discover whether or not the legends are true... [sfgate.com]
What's next? (Score:5, Interesting)
If hungry sea creatures are a problem, use some of that battery power to shock them, or shotgun-shell primers to scare them off.
Re:What's next? (Score:1)
Maybe not a bad idea (Score:1)
Being able to perform descents and ascents without running the maneuvering motors would allow access to the full depth capability of the hull. You would have t
Math lesson needed (Score:4, Informative)
1 m/s * 86400 seconds in a day = 86.4km. I don't think the battery is the problem, it's the pressures past 5k.
New $700 toy.. (Score:5, Interesting)
Getting to 5000m should not be a problem of time, at 1 m/s, even though I wander whether that speed is possible vertically? Probably a bigger problem is communicating over 5km - maybe you need "relays" at intermediate depths. It seems that groups of them can act as a sort of network. I didnt see a lot of details on such things as coms distance, etc, tho I didnt dig very deep.
As a toy for $700, I would even consider buying one.
Hmmm, I wonder if you could mount a laser.. What do you mean, why?
Re:New $700 toy.. (Score:2)
[snip]
Hmmm, I wonder if you could mount a laser.. What do you mean, why?
A properly tuned blue laser will penetrate relatively clean ocean water surprisingly well... that's why!
Re:New $700 toy.. (Score:1)
Actually reading the information on the home page (Yes, I'm new here), I see the vertical speed is 0.5 m/sec, and they don't try to communicate with the surface, but only locally with other submersibles in a group within 6 m.
battery life (Score:5, Insightful)
How much battery power do you think it takes to sink into the ocean?
Re:battery life (Score:2)
=Smidge=
eaten (Score:2, Funny)
Actually.... (Score:2)
more info (Score:5, Informative)
Sea trials (Score:2)
OR BETTER... (Score:3, Insightful)
Why "or worse"? Giving our military better technology is often times the best way to avoid becoming entangled in lengthy conflicts and reliance on poor intelligence.
Re:OR BETTER... (Score:2)
Re:OR BETTER... (Score:2)
Re:OR BETTER... (Score:2)
Re:OR BETTER... (Score:1)
http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20040
Re:OR BETTER... (Score:2)
That wasn't a convention, it was a love-fest for kicking off an attack on Bush. Nothing groundbreaking was decided, the truly revolutionary voices in the party of Kucinich, Dean, and Sharpton were utterly silenced.
Re:OR BETTER... (Score:1)
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Errr .... (Score:3, Interesting)
Ummmm
Re:Errr .... (Score:2)
I'm commenting on the attitude of the story poster that the moment you put a piece of technology in the hands of our military it's going to be put to a purpose that is evil in nature.
Our military has a legitimate purpose, whether you like our sitting president or not. That purpose is national defense. Better tools and technology allow for a better defense, often times ena
Re:Errr .... (Score:2)
History says otherwise. The us military has rarely been used in defense of american territory. On the other hand, it's been involved in various and sundry foreign invasions and occupations formally and informally on an almost non stop basis for the last 60 years.
The purpose of the us military is to project military force into other parts of the world. That's national offence, not d
Re:Errr .... (Score:2)
Tote up the number of times the U.S. military has been used for the defense of the nation vs. invading another country since 1950 or so.
Re:Errr .... (Score:2)
Unfortunately, the best intelligence and technology in defense does not protect us from the poor intelligences serving in positions of leadership in our government.
Re:OR BETTER... (Score:1)
michael = owned (Score:1)
by using weights? (Score:2)
I have an unorthodox solution... (Score:3, Interesting)
... a "fantastic voyage" if you will! Mwa-hey.
Admit it. You were thinking it.
on a more serious note - you could design the craft to be neutrally bouyant at 4.9km depths. It will sink until it gets to that point, if need be, and a trigger could turn it on. Then you could go 4.9km linear horizontal, power down and pop a gas bladder to surface.
kulakovich
Re:I have an unorthodox solution... (Score:1)
At 5km depth, the pressure is about 7000psi. The gas would have to be pressurized to more than that to expand a gas bladder. At those pressures, gasses behave far differently from ideal gasses, and change volume very little with changes in pressure. To contain the gas at the surface, you would need a thick, heavy pressure container that would weigh far more than the bouyancy you would gain from the gas.
How about, duh? (Score:1)
Who says this thing needs to start at 0? How about if it was released from a sub, or shot down to a few km below sea level using a torpedo or something?
Imagine... (Score:4, Insightful)
I imagine them being rechargable on their own, too. What if they were covered with solar panels and when the battery went dead it would float to the top and recharge on sunlight...
Re:Imagine... (Score:2)
Re:Imagine... (Score:1)
Smallest? (Score:2)
Oops, my bad... (Score:2)