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.