The robot, a customized BlueROV2 robot, operates at a depth of 1 meter and uses sonar signals to detect objects around it.

  Underwater robots to take on task of inspecting the nation’s aging piers, bridges, pipelines and dams at a time when people’s relationship with water is changing. Waves, winds, currents, wakes from passing boats and eddies swirling around structures make water one of the most complex environments for experienced boat captains, let alone robots. Now,…