The future of ocean exploration comes with the OpenRov Trident. It brings a new revolution to exploring the depths of underwater life. It is a small, low-cost, and quite easy to operate underwater drone to let us humans perceive our Earth’s waters in a different manner. With 4 years in designing and piloting different underwater drones, OpenRov has taken what they have learned from past experiences and re-imagined their products which gave birth to their new item for capturing deep-sea videos.
The OpenRov Trident Changes the Way We Look at Our Seas and Oceans
The OpenRov Trident has a unique design and is quite different from other underwater drones available in today’s market. It combines both versatility, durability, and control. It combines the ease of control of an ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) to the efficiency of the controls of an AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle).
The Trident drone can “swim” in long, straight survey lines called “transects.” It can also perform delicate maneuvers to avoid damage even while underwater. It can dodge well even in tight spaces, all the while maintaining its sleek and powerful form factor. This underwater drone is easy to use and will come ready to go. It can go down to a maximum depth of 100-meters below sea level. However, it will start to ship at a 25-meter tether. Longer tethers will be sold separately.
It weighs about 2.9-kilograms, which is not that heavy. and has a top speed of 2 m/s. Total run time is about 3 hours on a full-charge. It is 15.75-inches in length, 7.87-inches in width, and 3..15-inches in height. One of the secrets to the drone’s versatility is its unique thruster design. It has a unique, hydronamically offset thruster architecture which allows the user to move the device fast and efficiently in underwater environments. It also allows for rapid searches through an area or when it runs in a transect. Users are able to do all sorts of things with the device in a hasty manner, while all the while still being able to maneuver the drone delicately through tight spaces (or when surveying a particular target).
It takes advantage of drag’s exponential relationship with velocity. This ROV is able to pitch at high speeds due to the off-center vertical thruster. It can cause the device to run (or swim, if you want) at high speeds, but also hover or change its depth without pitching while the user operates it at lower speeds. The OpenRov Trident is calling for backers at their Kickstarter campaign page.