December 18, 2014US Navy tests GhostSwimmer "roboshark"

The GhostSwimmer cruises the waters of Virginia Beach

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Should you be swimming in the ocean sometime soon and spot a shark-like dorsal fin cutting through the water towards you, just relax – it might simply be a military robot, that's made to look like a shark. A US Navy team has recently been testing just such a device at its Joint Expeditionary Base East, in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Known as the GhostSwimmer, the robot was developed by Boston Engineering as part of the Navy's Silent NEMO project, which is aimed at creating nature-inspired unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs).

The GhostSwimmer is about five feet (1.5 m) long, weighs almost 100 lb (45 kg), and is described as mimicking the body shape and swinging-tail-driven swimming style of "a large fish." It can operate in depths ranging from just 10 inches down to 300 feet (0.25 to 91 m).

Users can remotely control it via a 500-foot (152-m) tether connected to a laptop, or it can operate autonomously using onboard sensors and a long-lasting battery. When tethered, it can relay video and other data in real time. In autonomous mode, that data is recorded and then transmitted (or collected directly) when the UUV surfaces.

Its fish-like method of propulsion reportedly makes it quieter than a propeller-driven craft of the same size. Along with its stealthy appearance, this obviously lends it to covert applications such as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions. According to the Navy, however, it can also be used for "friendly" jobs, such as hull inspection. In the tests at Virginia Beach, it's been used to gather data on tides, varied currents, wakes, and weather conditions.

GhostSwimmer can be seen in action, in the video below. Boston Engineering has been developing it alongside a similar device called the BIOSwimmer, which resembles a tuna.

Sources: US Navy, Boston Engineering

美國海軍測試GhostSwimmer機器鯊魚

US海軍測試GhostSwimmer＆QUOT; roboshark＆QUOT;

的GhostSwimmer遊輪弗吉尼亞海灘

圖片廊（3圖像）水域

如果你被很快遊泳在海洋中，發現了一個通過對你的水鯊魚狀背鰭切割，隻是放鬆 - 這可能僅僅是一個軍用機器人，這是作出看起來像鯊魚。美國海軍團隊最近一直在測試隻是這樣的設備在其聯合遠徵基地東，在弗吉尼亞海灘，弗吉尼亞州。被稱為GhostSwimmer，機器人由波士頓工程開發作為海軍的沈默NEMO項目，該項目旨在創造靈感來自大自然的無人水下航行器（UUVs）的一部分.

的GhostSwimmer約5英尺（1.5米）長，重量幾乎百磅（45仟克），並且被描述為模仿的體形和搖擺尾巴驅動的泳式“大魚”。它可以在深度從僅10英寸降到300英尺（0.25至91米）.

用戶可以遠程地通過一個500英尺（152米）的係繩連接到筆記本電腦控製它，或者它可以使用自主操作操作機上的傳感器和一個長效電池。當拴係，它可以中繼視頻和其它數據的實時性。在自主模式中，數據被記錄，然後被發送（或直接收集）當UUV錶麵。

及其魚肉狀的推進方法據說使得它比相同大小的一個螺旋槳驅動的工藝更安靜。隨著它的隱身外形，這顯然借給它隱蔽的應用，如情報，監視和偵察（ISR）任務。根據海軍，但是，它也可以被用於“友好”的作業，如船體檢查。在測試中，在弗吉尼亞海灘，它被用來收集有關潮??汐，不同的電流，醒來，和天氣條件的數據。

GhostSwimmer可以看出，在行動，在下麵的視頻。