Epaulard: Operational developments

Systematic exploration missions are the predilection domain for unmanned untethered undersea system. EPAULARD operational since 81 was conceived mainly for deep sea nodules exploration. As number of records increases, EPAULARD is pioneering some autonomous vehicles applications in marine biology and geology, in wreck search and inspection. Those missions require a high quality in deep sea systematic photographic imaging and micro-bathymetry on predetermined areas. Potential development of unmanned untethered systems will be confirmed providing that new technologies become mature giving to those systems more autonomy.