Page 30 - Auv News Today

>> how long do you think it will take here? >> well, i think theyve -- you know, on the basis these pingers are from the black boxes, i think theyll be able to locate the wreckage on the seabed quite quickly. the blue fin, the key thing is whether the depth is still within the range of the blue fin auv. right now theyre reporting the depth at about 4,500 meters. that also is the maximum depth rating of the blue fin. the auv can probably go a little bit deeper. youve got to get permission from th...

Actually say were closing in on not just the pinger but the wreckage. >> from what i understand, the ocean floor itself can make this a difficult search as well. can you explain that? >> well, this area is 15,000 feet, about 4500 meters. thats actually the limitations that the blue fin 21 has. theyre hoping that this is going to be within this range so they can map the bottom using auv. we haves got mountain ouster rain, well have bridges, valleys, gullies and we dont know where this would be in...

Pinging. and just pick up the signal is very complex. as you look at the water, you could be very close to where the pinger is and see no acoustic response and you could be further response and see a response. so the needle in the hay stack problem is really true. >> even though the search area has shrunk so much. rob, i wanted to ask you about that. they wont send a submarine down until the search area is narrowed further. right now eithits the size of houston. you how small must it be? >> well...

In 68 hours. >> how long do you think it will take here? >> well, i think theyve -- you know, on the basis these pingers are from the black boxes, i think theyll be able to locate the wreckage on the seabed quite quickly. the blue fin, the key thing is whether the depth is still within the range of the blue fin auv. right now theyre reporting the depth at about 4,500 meters. that also is the maximum depth rating of the blue fin. the auv can probably go a little bit deeper. youve got to get permi...

They will have to launch the auv. that will take many hours to conduct the search and more hours to download and process the data. >> in more detail, explain uav. >> the autonomous underwater vehicle. this one is the blue fin 21. its launched off the ship, swims down to the sea floor. it can be fitted with a range of packages. the first package is side scan sonar which uses acoustics to provide imagery of the sea floor and to try and find any wreckage. when it returns to the surface, that data i...

Process as well? >> its a process as well. the auv is not tethered at all. it has to be recharged and downloaded and analyzed. when youre looking at data youre looking at something that occurred previously, usually the day before. >> thanks so much, guys. >> thank you. >> coming up, the challenges in the indian ocean. now a major cyclone blowing through the area. will we ever find the debris? plus a source telling cnn that the plane actually skirted indonesian air space. were asking the pilot to...

>> a submarine, a manned submarine would not help here. were using an auv, which can go down do 4400 meters depth to search for the wreckage. >> youre talking about an unmanned drone. that would be a lot better than a submarine. here is a question from utah. could the surface scanner shown on chinese news be a cover for more advanced technology that they dont want others to know about? >> could be. i thought they had to have more than a sound device on a stick but apparently people are saying th...

Idea where the airplane is to go look for it. it makes a big difference whether it is flat sandy bottom where you get a nice sonar return or steep canyons or a coral environment. that will be really difficult for an auv. >> what do you say? >> we agree, of course. >> ill tell you, it will be difficult for any sonar system if it is in rocky terrain. it goes with the territory. it is going to be difficult. >> it is just how it is. >> you cant tow stuff through it, you cannot run stuff through it. ...

Confirmation by the bluefin-21 sidescan sonar. walk us through whats going on now. >> right now the navy with the pinger locator wants to make one more run, and then they can correlate all that information and come up with a location. that pinger on the aircraft is good for, you know, 4 to 7 miles, so right now if that is indeed the aircraft wreck, the location is pinned down within 4 to 7 miles. >> even if the batteries dry out and stop working, you still have a relatively small area to search....

Something ive been saying for a long time. that this aircraft was probably abducted by someone and they had a purpose in mind. they were on their way somewhere. maybe they never reached their destination but this is more and more like a deliberate act under human control. and incidentally, i have rather extensive experience with auvs, apparatus underwater vehicles. and i can tell you, we used one in 2012 on our air hertz search. in that case we were searching a steep coral reef. when you have st...