Submersibles Through Time
Autonomous Benthic Explorer (ABE) (early
1990s)
The first underwater vehicle of her kind, the ABE is a true
robot, operating autonomously with no onboard crew or tethers to
guide her. While the small, seven-foot-long vessel moves at a
maximum rate of just two knots, she can cover large areas of
underwater terrain as deep as 16,500 feet for months at a time, a
task that would prove prohibitively expensive if attempted with
manned or tethered machines. The ABE is programmed to perform
several tasks on her own, such as navigating, taking photographs,
collecting data and samples, even powering down or "sleeping."