Tampa Team to Develop Fleet of Autonomous Submarine Vehicles

TAMPA, Fla. - May 5, 2017 - PRLog -- A local team is busy developing a fleet of autonomous boats and submarines to explore the deep ocean. Tampa Deep Sea Xplorers will soon begin testing of their deep diving submarine robot design. It will be capable of diving to a depth of at least 4000 meters to gather video and sonar data to produce detailed maps of the ocean bottom. The current design is based on a 2 foot long cylinder packed with computers, sensors, and video cameras. The Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) will be deployed in a swarm of 30 or more vehicles to gather the maximum amount of data in a matter of hours. Edward Larson, the Founder of Tampa Deep Sea Xplorers said, "Our AUV swarm will be able to map 500 square kilometers of deep ocean bottom in 24 hours. Current technology takes weeks to gather a similar amount of data. Our solution represents a major advance in subsea technology."

Tampa Deep Sea Xplorers LLC is one of 21 teams competing for the Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE. The Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE is a competition sponsored by the XPRIZE Foundation and Shell Oil Company. The contest will award a 4 million dollar cash prize to the team that is best able to construct and demonstrate one or more autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) to map the ocean bottom to a depth of 4000 meters. In addition to the first place prize there are 1 million dollar cash prizes for second place and for completion of contest milestones; up to 7 million dollars in total prizes will be awarded.

Edward Larson said, "After years of development, autonomous vehicles are now ready for the marketplace. The Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE will produce technology that will revolutionize undersea exploration and greatly magnify what we know about our planet. "Those interested in learning more about Tampa Deep Sea Xplorers should visit their website at www.tampadeepsea.com Additional information regarding the Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE can be found at http://oceandiscovery.xprize.org