BWU Robots Assist Research on Ocean Floor The interdisciplinary approach to problems has always been at the heart of BWU. In no other project is this more apparent than in the Deep-Sea Robotics project (DSR), in which AI-driven robots have been developed to allow researchers to gather information about the deepest portions of the world’s oceans. The DSR project began in the Oceanography Department in Dunedin, NZ, but it soon after drew upon BWU resources from around the world. AI designers from BWU-NYC contributed the necessary computational resources to the project. BWU-Bangalore engineers devised the robots that could withstand and even thrive under the terrific pressures under the ocean’s floor. And the actual underwater construction of the devices took place at BWU-Maui. “The entire project’s been amazing,” says Dr. Terry Tanaka, visiting fellow from the University of Maui and head researcher in charge of getting the project off the ground. “Working with BWU-Bangalore, I was able to draw on the resources of any professor or researcher that I needed. It’s an amazing thing to have 50,000 educators behind you when you’re working on a project, and we’re talking about the top minds in the world here.” The initial DSR robot looks something like large sharks with tentacles, although looks can be deceiving. “We settled on the shape of the shark for efficiency of underwater movement,” says Dr. Tanaka. “At the depths to which DSR-1 will be descending, the water pressure is enough to crush a standard submarine craft like a rotten grape. I’ve never actually touched DSR-1 myself. She was assembled entirely underwater at depths of 1,000 feet or more. “In fact,” the doctor continues, “DSR-1 will never see the light of day. She’s not capable of ascending higher than a depth of 500 feet. If she ever managed to get to the surface, her pressurized interior would quite literally explode. The development of DSR-1 is a major step forward in the multinational effort to explore every inch of the planet, including the deepest ocean floors.