This spring a sea-gliding robot deployed by start-up Liquid Robotics to collect data in the Gulf of Mexico sent an alarming text message to its pilot ashore that something was wrong. The pilot, who remotely guides the robot on its mission — in this case to collect data on water chemistry, current information, and acoustics for BP PLC — directed it to take underwater pictures of itself. The acoustic instrument had tangled up. It was time to return to port. Read More
