Unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV), sometimes known as underwater drones, are any vehicles that are able to operate underwater without a human occupant. These vehicles may be divided into two categories, remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs), which are controlled by a remote human operator, and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), which operate independently of direct human input.
Town Manager Larry DiRe told the Mirror, ” Right now there aren’t any operations at the harbor. Several interested private firms and university staff have been to the harbor to check on water depth and telemetry clearance to see if these vehicles (surface and below surface) can be launched and operated from in and around the town harbor. Has potential to open up that facility for the storage, research and testing aspects of a good growth technology for the area. And the private firms can be eligible for economic development incentives as well. It can open up some good job training opportunities for local kids and get them into an important technology. And keep jobs here. “
Mr. DiRe is developing a staff report, informational only at this point, for the November 21 Town Council meeting.
MJM says
Sure. Why not look into it ? See what they have to say.
Beware of predictions of an amount of permanent jobs. I’d guess that’s certainly a finite number. However, student training to be able to travel to new and distant firms should be quite possible.
Just please be sure their future plans and requests do not interfere with normal harbor operations. Perhaps treat the submersibles like a diver. We don’t want divers hurt, or submersibles, and we don’t want damage to boats. Otherwise ? Let ’em go.