MBARI's newest underwater robot seeks to make ocean exploration more accessible

With marine life and ecosystems facing a rising tide of threats, the ocean exploration community needs nimble, cost-effective tools for measuring and monitoring ocean health. To address this need, MBARI's CoMPAS Lab outfitted the MOLA AUV, a portable autonomous robot with an innovative sensor suite and advanced algorithms, to study marine environments. Meet the MOLA AUV, a multimodality, observing, low-cost, agile, autonomous underwater vehicle with advanced sensors to survey marine ecosystems. MBARI engineers hope the broader marine science community will benefit from MOLA AUV’s open-source design specifications and software algorithms. MBARI envisions a fleet of nimble robots like MOLA gathering data to help guide decision-making about the ocean and its resources. In its first field test in the Maldives, the MOLA AUV successfully mapped coral reefs and collected crucial ocean data—all while being small enough to fit in a checked bag! With open-source technology, MBARI hopes to make ocean science more accessible than ever. Learn more: https://www.mbari.org/news/mbaris-new... Writer and video producer: Marike Pinsonneault Narrator: Marike Pinsonneault Science advisors: Giancarlo Troni, Eric Martin, Kevin Barnard, Vicente Andres Sufan Osorio Production team: Lila Luthy, Raúl Nava, Kyra Schlining, Susan von Thun Music: Science Technology Research