SCILLY - An AutoNaut unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) has completed trials off Scilly. The British-built UUV is a wave-propelled scientific research vehicle. The UUV successfully returned to Scilly following an autonomous 13-day mission.
The AutoNaut UUV is called Gordon and was built by by MOST (Autonomous Vessels) Ltd for the National Oceanography Centre. The UUV tows a 25-meter hydrophone array.
The Gordon UUV measures weather station data, sunlight, chlorophyll levels and seawater quality. The UUV's cameras have captured images of seabirds and surveyed marine litter. The UUV travelled at a depth of 4-meters as part of a flotilla of five unmanned surface vessels and three underwater gliders.
In early November, the UUV will be sent to Plymouth to monitor tagged fish.