Submersibles Through Time
ROV Hercules (2003)
Scientists designed this remotely operated craft chiefly to study and recover
artifacts from ancient shipwrecks, but Hercules can be used for a wide
array of scientific purposes. Armed with a flexible set of multipurpose tools,
one of the craft's two manipulator arms offers "force feedback," allowing
operators miles away to better control the pressure the device applies upon
more delicate specimens, such as boxes found aboard the RMS Titanic
(pictured here). Equipped with a flotation device composed of glass and epoxy
resin, Hercules can "fly" in any direction like a helicopter and will
float gently to the surface if her thrusters stop turning, an innovation that
could prove useful for future submersibles.