A robotic underwater vehicle that can hover in place like a helicopter has been developed by researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

The new craft, Odyssey IV, is the latest in a series of small, inexpensive artificially intelligent submarines developed over the last two decades by The MIT Sea Grant College Program’s Autonomous Underwater Vehicles laboratory.

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The ‘Anaconda’ is an innovative wave energy concept.

A device consisting of a giant rubber tube may hold the key to producing affordable electricity from the energy in sea waves.

Led by researchers from the University of Southampton, the ‘Anaconda’ is an innovative wave energy concept. The simple design means it would be cheap to manufacture and maintain, enabling it to produce clean electricity at a lower cost than other types of wave energy converter.

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A team at the University of Washington has developed a group of three Robofish that communicate with each other underwater.

While most ocean robots need to periodically surface to communicate with scientists or satellite intermediaries, the ability of these Robofish, which are roughly the size of a 10-pound salmon, and use fins rather than propellers for increased manoeuvrability, to communicated underwater mean they need not surface until the their task is complete.

Kristi Morgansen, from the University of Washington, explained: “Underwater robots don’t need oxygen. The only reason they come up to the surface right now is for communication.”

In order to get the Robofish to communicate underwater, the researchers faced the challenge of having the robots transmit information through dense water.

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