New robot scouts best locations for components of un...(odes. Choosing the right sites involve...)

Choosing the right sites involved mapping and imaging in remarkable detail using sonar instruments, a towed camera and Sentry. Sentry, for instance, produces maps precise to within 1 meter, or about 3 feet, as it glides about 250 feet above the seafloor. Operators program the vehicle with directions of the area to map but the vehicle is on its own when it comes to maneuvering up and down cliffs, basins and other terrain that it encounters, all while keeping a consistent distance from the bottom.

The one-of-a-kind autonomous underwater vehicle built by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution with funding largely from the National Science Foundation made six dives during the July 22 to Aug. 5 expedition. It was the first time the vehicle has been used during an actual oceanographic research cruise. Sentry surveyed 212 linear kilometers of seafloor, or about 53 square kilometers, as it traced parallel lines like a lawn mower making a pattern across a yard.

"Seeing the first maps pop up on our screen was a real thrill for us, they represent the results of hard work by all members of our team," said Dana Yoerger, the lead Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution engineer of Sentry. See WHOI release about Sentry at http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=7545&tid=282&cid=47407&ct=162.

The work made it possible to finalize locations for two critical sites. One is near an area 50 miles off Newport, Ore., where scientists would like to learn more about the icy methane that collects on or below the seafloor where the Juan de Fuca plate dives beneath North America.

"Most developed nations have major research efforts focused on understanding and learning to use these energy-rich deposits of methane," Delaney said. "Our plan is to build the infrastructure that will allow entire generations of scientists to study these deposits firsthand using robotic telepresence no
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