Talisman AUV Works Underwater Magic
Writing by Evan Ackerman on Monday, 10 of September , 2007 at 4:18 am
By Evan Ackerman
They say that the ocean is this planet’s final frontier, being that 95% of it is unexplored. And it’s unexplored for a reason: getting around beneath the surface is trickier than it seems, for both people and robots, mostly because it’s so difficult to communicate (no GPS, for example). Most underwater robots are either tethered or restricted to short, localized missions, but the Talisman autonomous underwater vehicle (or unmanned undersea vehicle, if you prefer) aims to change all that. Designed by BAE Systems, Talisman is fully autonomous and can carry a variety of payloads to be adapted to different missions, such as mine detecting, surveillance, reconnaissance, or anti-submarine warfare (it can carry torpedoes). It’s even capable of carrying and launching other AUVs. All mission parameters are pre-programmable, and if Talisman has any questions, it’ll surface and use the Iridium satellite network to communicate with its base station.
Talisman itself is made primarily of slick and stealthy black carbon fiber. It’s about 5 meters long, and is powered to top speed of about 10 mph with six commercial thruster pods. It can dive to depths of 300 meters, and can operate for 24 hours at a stretch. Currently just a demonstrator, Talisman is going on the road this summer to search for buyers.
[ BAE Press Release (PDF) ] VIA [ Gizmag ]
Leave a comment
Category: Military
- Add this post to
- Del.icio.us -
- Digg
No comments yet.
