Autosub6000 to start research work in the Caribbean

According to the BBC, UK's newest autonomous underwater vehicle known as Autosub6000 is on its way to explore the deepest undersea volcanoes in the Caribbean. The robotic submarine can dive as far as 6000 meters and it will be complemented by the remote controlled submarine Isis. The robots will explore the volcanoes all along the Cayman Trough with Autosub6000 going first to locate the volcanic vents at the bottom of the ocean and Isis going second to collect samples around the vents. The two submarines will help scientists learn more about life in the deep ocean; the team on board the vessel James Cook which will be heading to the Cayman Trough expects to find many new species during the expeditions.

Robots are helping us explore so much of nature we could never hope to explore ourselves in the near future. Several robots are currently studying the surface of Mars looking for water and traces of past or current life while these two submarines will help us understand life on our planet. The Lunar X-Prize is determined to prove that robotic missions to the Moon can be both cheap and an effective method for scientific research (not that the latter has not been proved already by NASA's planetary rovers but those were definitely not cheap.) Scientific applications for robotics are by far the most valuable and worthwhile of all robotics endeavors undertaken today.

Read more: Sub to make deep Caribbean dive.