December 18, 2014US Navy tests GhostSwimmer "roboshark"

The GhostSwimmer cruises the waters of Virginia Beach

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Should you be swimming in the ocean sometime soon and spot a shark-like dorsal fin cutting through the water towards you, just relax – it might simply be a military robot, that's made to look like a shark. A US Navy team has recently been testing just such a device at its Joint Expeditionary Base East, in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Known as the GhostSwimmer, the robot was developed by Boston Engineering as part of the Navy's Silent NEMO project, which is aimed at creating nature-inspired unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs).

The GhostSwimmer is about five feet (1.5 m) long, weighs almost 100 lb (45 kg), and is described as mimicking the body shape and swinging-tail-driven swimming style of "a large fish." It can operate in depths ranging from just 10 inches down to 300 feet (0.25 to 91 m).

Users can remotely control it via a 500-foot (152-m) tether connected to a laptop, or it can operate autonomously using onboard sensors and a long-lasting battery. When tethered, it can relay video and other data in real time. In autonomous mode, that data is recorded and then transmitted (or collected directly) when the UUV surfaces.

Its fish-like method of propulsion reportedly makes it quieter than a propeller-driven craft of the same size. Along with its stealthy appearance, this obviously lends it to covert applications such as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions. According to the Navy, however, it can also be used for "friendly" jobs, such as hull inspection. In the tests at Virginia Beach, it's been used to gather data on tides, varied currents, wakes, and weather conditions.

GhostSwimmer can be seen in action, in the video below. Boston Engineering has been developing it alongside a similar device called the BIOSwimmer, which resembles a tuna.

Sources: US Navy, Boston Engineering

美国海军测试GhostSwimmer机器鲨鱼

US海军测试GhostSwimmer＆QUOT; roboshark＆QUOT;

的GhostSwimmer游轮弗吉尼亚海滩

图片廊（3图像）水域

如果你被很快游泳在海洋中，发现了一个通过对你的水鲨鱼状背鳍切割，只是放松 - 这可能仅仅是一个军用机器人，这是作出看起来像鲨鱼。美国海军团队最近一直在测试只是这样的设备在其联合远征基地东，在弗吉尼亚海滩，弗吉尼亚州。被称为GhostSwimmer，机器人由波士顿工程开发作为海军的沉默NEMO项目，该项目旨在创造灵感来自大自然的无人水下航行器（UUVs）的一部分.

的GhostSwimmer约5英尺（1.5米）长，重量几乎百磅（45千克），并且被描述为模仿的体形和摇摆尾巴驱动的泳式“大鱼”。它可以在深度从仅10英寸降到300英尺（0.25至91米）.

用户可以远程地通过一个500英尺（152米）的系绳连接到笔记本电脑控制它，或者它可以使用自主操作操作机上的传感器和一个长效电池。当拴系，它可以中继视频和其它数据的实时性。在自主模式中，数据被记录，然后被发送（或直接收集）当UUV表面。

及其鱼肉状的推进方法据说使得它比相同大小的一个螺旋桨驱动的工艺更安静。随着它的隐身外形，这显然借给它隐蔽的应用，如情报，监视和侦察（ISR）任务。根据海军，但是，它也可以被用于“友好”的作业，如船体检查。在测试中，在弗吉尼亚海滩，它被用来收集有关潮??汐，不同的电流，醒来，和天气条件的数据。

GhostSwimmer可以看出，在行动，在下面的视频。