Drs. Roger Flood, Kamazima Lwiza, Mary Scranton and PhD student Sarah Nickford attended the Setauket Harbor Day on September 23rd and provided a hands-on demonstration of a drone boat. SoMAS is currently testing two different versions of the boat, one is capable of carrying much more weight than the other. For this test the larger EchoBoat was carrying a survey-grade GPS and echosounder which can be used to create the maps of the floor of Setauket Harbor needed for studying and managing this important resource. The EchoBoat and HyDrone were provided by Seafloor Systems, Inc.
The boats are different from a typical remote-controlled vehicle in that routes can be programmed for autonomous operation.
Photos by Anne McElroy
