Key points
- CTO and COO Jason Gillham tours Impossible Metals’ custom-built tow tank lab, a darkened room with a steel frame holding a chain-driven vehicle that moves over a water tank to simulate deep-ocean conditions.
- A Stewart platform gives the vehicle six degrees of freedom, including heave, to replicate the up-and-down and swinging motion of an underwater vehicle like Eureka III.
- Cameras at the front and robotic arms at the back identify representative nodules and marine life, letting the team refine nodule- and life-detection algorithms and arm pickup performance.
- The system can be operated from a computer in the room or remotely; during the tour a remote operator is running it to continue improving performance.
