Flotation devices

WOODS HOLE, Mass.--With the BP oil spill in the news for the last three months, and the necessity of trying to plug the huge leak at a depth of a mile, the concept of doing heavy-duty deep-sea work may be more in the public's mind than it has been for years.

But at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, such a focus is a full-time job, and in pursuit of solutions to the challenges that come up daily in the field of oceanography, researchers and scientists there have, over the years, developed some of the world's most leading edge systems for probing the deep.

That work focuses both on hardware systems--primarily deep-sea vehicles like autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) or remotely operated vehicles (ROV)--and on software tools to interpret and present the data these vehicles gather.

One of the most cutting-edge tools Woods Hole has in its arsenal is the Nereus, a hybrid remotely operated vehicle that can work either as a traditional tethered ROV or as an AUV. Capable of diving more than seven miles below the surface, Nereus has the potential to change the way underwater science is done, given that it may take autonomy to a new level.

As part of Road Trip 2010, CNET reporter Daniel Terdiman visited Woods Hole and got a closeup look at Nereus.

Seen here are some of the ceramic flotation devices that dominate the rear of the vehicle.

Click here to read the related story on the research and innovations of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. And click here to check out the entire Road Trip 2010 package.

July 17, 2010 6:00 AM PDT

Photo by: Daniel Terdiman/CNET

| Caption by: Daniel Terdiman