Underwaterglider Camera

A brief background on underwater gliders

Underwater gliders are a type of autonomous underwater vehicle that uses active buoyancy control to change its weight in water from light to heavy in order to fly upward or downward through the water column. This low-power mode of propulsion allows the gliders to operate for extended periods of time, from weeks to months, while collecting information about our oceans. Their mission is tracked and adjusted once they come to the surface via satellite communication from anywhere.

The glider camera concept

While gliders are typically used to collect data in the water column, this research is about collecting seafloor images over large distances for seafloor characterization and ground truthing. During the upward inflections, the glider transitions from a downward-pointing to a horizontal orientation and then to an upward-pointing position. During this transition, images in the proximity of the seafloor are acquired.