A long and proud tradition in nautical history calls for naming the vessels that ply fresh and salty waters. Wisconsin Sea Grant would be remiss if it didn’t also name its craft. Months ago, the program’s Information Systems Engineer James Grandt put his skills to use and built an underwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV) from an open-source kit. (See video of the construction at bit.ly/1xS98Hn.)
Now, this proud little craft needs a name. Send suggestions via email to linda@aqua.wisc.edu or through the U.S. Postal Service to the attention of Linda Campbell, Aquatic Sciences Center, 1975 Willow Drive, Madison, Wis. 53706. Suggestions must be received by Jan. 31, 2015. All suggestions will be entered in a random drawing to win an annual pass to Wisconsin’s State Park System.ROVs can navigate to underwater places where human divers can’t. They are used for gathering photos, and researchers also use them to collect water samples. One of the most famous ROVs was the Argo, which discovered the wreck of the Titanic thanks to its mounted television cameras and sonar equipment
The to-be-named Sea Grant ROV has been used as a teaching tool. It’s been popular at public events, including the annual Grandparent’s University at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Wisconsin State Fair and the Wisconsin Science Festival.
