Sentry (AUV)

Sentry is designed to descend to depths of 6,000 metres (20,000 ft) and to carry a range of devices for taking samples, pictures and readings from the deep sea.

These are used in conjunction with a USBL, or LBL, acoustic navigation system which is also used to communicate with the vessel—providing it with commands as well as receiving the data from the sensors and onboard equipment.

[2] Propulsion and control are managed by an onboard "Jason 2" system which was developed by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Johns Hopkins University and proven over several hundred deep-water tests.

[2] The AUV is powered by 1,000 lithium-ion batteries[4] designed and specially adapted for the great pressure at the depths that Sentry can descend to.

Recently Sentry was used to help take 5,800 mass spectrometer readings in the sea at the site of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and subsequentoil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.