Deep sea explorations have always been a great challenge to engineers and geo-physicists,both in terms of technology and financial resources required for such explorations.In such explorations, an under water vehicle or submarine (manned or autonomous) is a very important instrument that has a vital role in exploring the vast depths of the oceans.In this regard development of Serafina,the world's smallest autonomous submarine,developed at The Australian National University (ANU) is a great breakthrough.Development of this small and autonomous underwater vehicle is indeed the beginning of a new era of oceanic discovery as this submarine has potential applications in shipwreck recovery,mineral explorations,search and rescue missions.
Being only 40cm long, Serafina is the world's smallest autonomous submarine that could dive to around 500 meters (16500 feet) of depth under water.Its hull is made of plastic,which is equipped with rechargeable batteries and associated circuitry.It is driven by five propellers which enable it to achieve sub-sea speed of one meter per second - equivalent to fast walking pace.It is capable of turning,hovering,tilting,somersaulting and performing a number of scientific tasks under water.It can even right itself if overturned.
"Small and versatile submersibles, such as Serafina, are an important leap towards making underwater exploration affordable and effective," said Dr. Uwe Zimmer, the design team leader.Dr. Zimmer also said,"Under water exploration and travel is usually extremely expensive and therefore either limited to the military or specialized missions.The deep sea is one of the world's last unexplored frontiers".He also added,“Now that we have developed the world’s smallest autonomous underwater vehicle at a reasonable cost, it provides a promising platform to develop a fleet, or swarm of underwater Serafinas, which could provide valuable new data about our seas and what lies beneath them”.
Dr Uwe Zimmer with his team at department of systems engineering at Canberra's Australian National University had refined and perfected the design of Serafina so that the submersibles could be produced relatively cheaply for about A$1,000 per unit and could dive to the depths of more than 3000 meters under sea for explorations and monitoring.
It is designed to be autonomous and can be programmed in advance and with its current battery capacity it could last on a mission for about a day.It will be sufficiently strong to be dropped from the side of the ship thus eliminating the need for cranes and launching systems.It was also aimed to develop this submarine flexible enough to carry a range of sensors necessary for undersea explorations and deep sea monitoring.The only possible problem with this submarine is its size.Due to its small size,it could possibly be eaten by some big aquatic creature.
The shipping companies involved with deep sea explorations and salvage of sunken ships and cargoes have shown great interest in this submarine.It has many other potential applications like inspecting under water cables for breaks and faults,searching for drowned aircraft,exploration and search for under sea mineral resources and monitoring of temperature and currents under sea.Further details about this project may be found at Official Webiste of Serafina.
Dr Uwe Zimmer with his team at department of systems engineering at Canberra's Australian National University had refined and perfected the design of Serafina so that the submersibles could be produced relatively cheaply for about A$1,000 per unit and could dive to the depths of more than 3000 meters under sea for explorations and monitoring.
The shipping companies involved with deep sea explorations and salvage of sunken ships and cargoes have shown great interest in this submarine.It has many other potential applications like inspecting under water cables for breaks and faults,searching for drowned aircraft,exploration and search for under sea mineral resources and monitoring of temperature and currents under sea.Further details about this project may be found at Official Webiste of Serafina.
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