Odysseus 6k | The robot that found the wreckage of Titan’s submarine works remotely

Of all the remotely operated vehicles (ROVs, their acronym in English) that have worked in the search for the Titan submersible, the robot that excelled at finding the shipwreck near the wreck of the Titanic – at a depth of 3.8 kilometers – is the Odysseus 6K. It weighs less than 1.7 tons and enables access to a depth of 6 kilometers, which is what gives it its name. The equipment was manufactured by Pelagic Research Services and appeared in the submerged finds last Thursday (22).

ROVs are often used to install and maintain ocean monitoring systems, collect biological and geological samples, photograph and photograph the marine environment, and in the case of OceanGate’s lost submersible searches, deep sea exploration and recovery. The robot’s name refers to Odysseus, or Ulysses, the Greek mythological hero who participated in the Trojan War and faced a 20-year sea voyage to return to his home on the Greek island of Ithaca.

Customizable to its intended use, the Odysseus 6K can be equipped with articulated arms and biological sample chambers for seismometers, auxiliary valves for submersible displacement and all types of hydraulic equipment. Additional sensors, fibers, and increased power capacity round out the robot’s capabilities.

How is Odysseus 6K controlled?

A 6.10m container control room called the Odysseus Control Van houses the ROV operators, where high-resolution video and data processing takes place. Scientists and expedition leaders are also on site, and are able to direct the pilots as to the course and dive required for the underwater flight.

The robot could be launched from any type of ship, without the need for launch and recovery equipment (LARS, in its English abbreviation), and in the case of the search for Titan, it was protected by the Canadian ship Horizon Arctic.

The encounter with the wreckage and the fate of the crew

Odysseus 6K reached the area of ​​rescue flights at dawn last Thursday (22nd) and submerged around 8 am, and found the OceanGate submarine wreck hours later. Also involved in the endeavor was the Vector 6000, a Canadian ROV protected by the French ship L’Atalante, which used its 3D scanner to try to locate Titan.

As one of the founders of OceanGate told BBC News, the immediate implosion would have impacted the company’s carbon fiber craft, killing all five crew members instantly. The United States Coast Guard reported finding a debris field near the Titanic wreck site, where tourists were heading under the sea.

The victims are:

• Stockton Rush, submarine pilot and CEO of OceanGate;
• Paul-Henri Nargolet, former commander of the French Navy and expert on the sinking of the Titanic, who made several trips to the ship, which sank in April 1912;
• Hamish Harding, British billionaire and explorer;
• Shahzada Dawood, a Pakistani businessman;
• Suleiman Dawood bin Shahzadeh.

source: BBC 1And twoAnd Marine research services