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Coastal Observer

Oceanographic Systems Laboratory engineer Phil Bouxsein (left) and engineering technician Amy Kukulya lift a Remote Environmental Monitoring UnitS(REMUS) vehicle onto the
transport cart. REMUS vehicles are robotic submarines resembling torpedoes that navigate without a human crew onboard and without cables connecting them to research vessels at the sea surface. They are among a class of ocean instruments known as autonomous underwater vehicles, or AUVs. The vehicles are designed for coastal monitoring as well as survey AUVs. The vehicles are designed for coastal monitoring as well as survey operations at depths to 6000 meters (3.73 miles). Oceanographers use them as a vehicle to carry a wide variety of instrumentation, such as cameras, sidescan sonar and current profilers for data collection.Computers inside the vehicle are pre-programmed and used for system
control, such as navigation and propulsion, as well as for data collection.
(Photo by Reed Christenson, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)