MicroSeeker Tank Test - June 23, 2001

I went down again to URI (University of Rhode Island) to see the guys from the URI AUV team on the weekend of June 23rd...

This time the o-rings were sealed up tight, and we actually managed to do a bunch of tethered runs in their acoustic tank.

The sub doesn't dive, mainly because I don't have the main "wing" fins made yet, so there is no pivot point when the thrusters tilt to force the sub down. We launch the sub by holding it about a foot under the surface, and it stays under with no problems.

	Here's MicroSeeker taking off from the start position. The blur in the image is just because the sub is moving pretty quickly and my digital camera isn't very fast...
	Here's a good picture of it, sitting near the bottom of the tank. The tank is 11 feet deep at its deepest, so this is probably about 8 feet deep here. The black piece you can see on the nose is a piece of electrical tap holding a small piece of lead ballast in place.
	And here it is, almost sitting on the bottom. This is about 10 feet deep.