The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) and 3D announced a new partnership aimed at creating the next generation of Wide Swath Subsea LiDAR (WiSSL) seafloor mapping technology.
Both Organizations have been working on seafloor mapping technology for over 20 years.
Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) uses pulses of high-intensity green laser to collect and create incredibly precise maps of the seafloor. This capability can then generate bathymetric maps of such high quality and detail that they are incredibly useful to scientists.
Discussing the work, Dave Caress, a principal engineer at MBARI and the principal investigator of the institute’s Seafloor Mapping Lab, stated:
“To meet our goal of surveying the complex and rugged terrain of the deep seafloor at one-centimeter resolution, we’re working closely with 3D at Depth to develop enhanced lidar technology that will be smaller in size and weight and require less power, making it ideal for deployment on MBARI’s robotic submersibles and eventually, our autonomous robots too.”
While Carl Embry, the CEO of 3D, added:
“We’re excited that a research organization such as MBARI continues to use and invest in our technology to meet one of their strategic goals. These projects are truly a win-win for both organizations as it provides MBARI with a tool to meet their scientific goals and helps us improve our subsea lidar systems for diverse robotic platforms.”
