What is the REMUS AUV? – An underwater monitoring vehicle

REMUS AUV stands for Remote Environmental Monitoring Unit Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

The REMUS AUV is designed and developed by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.  According to their web site:

“These low-cost autonomous underwater vehicles are designed by OSL personnel to operate simply with a laptop computer. At less than 80 lbs, the lightweight design facilitates launch and recovery operations. A standard configuration carries an up- and down-looking Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP), sidescan sonar, a CT profiler, and a light scattering sensor. Many other instruments have been integrated since its inception, including fluorometers, bioluminescence sensors, radiometers, acoustic modems, forward-looking sonar, altimeters, and Acoustic Doppler Velocimeters (ADVs). REMUS can also carry a video plankton recorder, a plankton pump, video cameras, pop-up cameras, an electronic still camera, and most recently, a towed acoustic array, making it a versatile tool for any mission.
 
Because REMUS is so easy to use, a large number of non-technical personnel have been taught to operate the vehicle. This simplicity is evident in its mission programming, operation, recovery, and data downloading and analysis. Routine maintenance consists of washing it down with a hose and recharging the batteries, which does not require opening the housing, but merely plugging in a cable and pressing a button. As a result, it is an extremely reliable vehicle.
    
REMUS has surveyed areas up to 80 kilometers at 3 knots or more than 100 kilometers at lower speeds.A standard vehicle equipped with an up/down-looking ADCP and sidescan sonar can run for more than 8 hours at 5 knots, or up to 20 hours at 3 knots. Unmodified, the REMUS vehicle is 52 inches long with a body diameter of 7.5 inches. The vehicle’s length may be increased to support any payload within reason. Because REMUS is small, it can easily be transported in a compact car and even Fedexed overnight, then launched and recovered from a small vessel. Special handling equipment is not required. Although small in size, REMUS is currently configured to support a variety of sensor packages. ”

See the REMUS AUV in action in this Youtube video.

Do you have experience with the REMUS AUV?  What missions have you used it to complete?