Air launched platforms - a new approach for underwater vehicles

The economics of expediting wide area, synoptic surveys of the oceans often limit the extent and frequency of such work. The concept of Air Launched Platforms addresses the question of how to carry out this work more effectively using small and affordable submersible autonomous vehicles launched from fixed or rotary wing aircraft. With relatively recent developments of mass market GPS receivers, processors, attitude sensors and micro machines, there is the possibility developing new platforms and methods to carry out wide area survey work in a very different way.