USM Subsea Robotics Center

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Gulfport, MS
USM Subsea Robotics Center

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The Subsea Robotics Center at the University of Southern Mississippi is focused on operations and development of uncrewed maritime systems.

We operate the Mohawk 18 ROV and survey AUVs Eagle Ray and Mola Mola. The Undersea Vehicles Program at the University of North Carolina Wilmington is dedicated to providing efficient undersea intervention with experienced remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) support. With over 28 years of conducting undersea research, the UVP team possesses the skills and knowledge required to perform extensive end-to-end mission coordination and logistics, professional vehicle operations, and quality data collection. UVP is uniquely qualified to provide access to and expertise associated with specialized ocean exploration and research vehicles, systems, and sensors to conduct ocean exploration, research, training, and technology development. Visit our web site at http://www.uncw.edu/uvp/ for day rates, scheduling, vehicle specification, system requirements, and operating procedures, or contact Jason White at [email protected] for additional information on how we can support your undersea research.

09/28/2026

Expedition update: our departure was delayed due to some mechanical issues, so the ROV team had an opportunity to run through some additional checks and maintenance over the weekend. Once we got on site, we managed to complete five dives over three days. Visibility was poor, and currents at some sites were challenging to fight against. Yet on the third day of ROV operations, we found some of the elusive Gulf of Maine coral that had remained hidden through the first four dives, much to the excitement of our Chief Scientist Dave Packer and his team.

The weather forecast deteriorated rapidly as a nor’easter formed, causing us to run for shelter after completing the last dive. We spent a couple days anchored off Bar Harbor, Maine while the storm passed. We used the down time to repair a thruster that failed (normal wear and tear) after the fourth dive, and we serviced two other thrusters while we had the opportunity. Now we’re heading back out through the tail of the storm to be ready to dive again tomorrow morning when the seas calm.

09/17/2026

The ROV team has been mobilizing today aboard the NOAA Ship Pisces in Newport, Rhode Island.

Mobilization hasn’t been very picturesque, so for Throwback Thursday, here are some operations photos from my first cruise with the UNCW Undersea Vehicles Program on this same vessel in 2024. Jason White was in his element, multitasking as usual. I was not officially part of the team, but Sam and Jessie made me feel welcome by amending my helmet to match their hairstyle.

Max

09/01/2026

On the last day, the lander team recovered another of their seafloor instruments without ROV intervention. We got into some storms heading back to the dive site and had to delay operations. The sun came out and we completed nearly six hours more in-water time.

Some of the terrain looked like it came from a Dr. Seuss book. We adjusted lighting during the dive, and at one point switched off our lights completely to look at the structure with only the mid-day light that reached our depth of 85 meters (280 feet). We left our scaling lasers on – the red and green pairs are each 10 cm apart (~4”) and are used to determine the size of underwater objects.

In total we collected 107 samples using the ROV and logged over 40 hours of in-water time – quite busy for such a short expedition with multiple teams working around the clock! Next stop, the Gulf of Maine, just a little over two weeks from now.

08/30/2026

I’m just now catching up on the remaining two posts for the expedition – we continued coral sampling on the second-to-last ROV day. Visibility was not as good at this site, so the scanning sonar was used extensively to locate rocky outcrops where most corals were concentrated.

Throughout the cruise, we have been collecting samples for our Chief Scientist Dr. Sandra Brooke, her PhD student Laura Anthony, and lab technician Kit Simonson, all from the Florida State University Coastal & Marine Laboratory. During ROV operations, a senior scientist guides the dive, directing the pilot and selecting what to sample. Other scientists have control of the digital still cameras and video screen grabs, and they also help by controlling the bio box extension and suction system when the ROV team has their hands full. When the ROV is recovered, scientists empty the sampling vessels and begin processing their specimens.

08/26/2026

Maintenance and occasional down-time is part of working at sea. We had three more dives today, and after the first two we serviced the bio box mechanism and manipulator. Thanks to the meticulous organization of the UNCW team before us, we had plenty of spare parts on hand to effect repairs. Even with some time lost to these tasks, dive time totaled well over 6 hours today. Seeing the manipulator handled on deck gives some perspective to the size of this hardware in the underwater images.

08/25/2026

Three more dives were completed today. That means more sampling of delicate hard corals!

Before each dive, we check over the ROV and arrange the first 30m (~100’) of tether on deck. On this cruise, we’re using the 500m configuration, which stores the umbilical on a dedicated spool. The 300m configuration of the Mohawk ROV simply stores the umbilical in a crate, and the 1000m configuration uses a dedicated winch and instrumented mid-weight.

08/24/2026

Today we assisted colleagues with a lander recovery before returning to coral collection. The lander team ranged to their seafloor instrument package, and starting from that point, we located it a short distance away using sonar (display visible in the control room photo). When we got back to the surface, we decided to spin around and take a look at the ship. The instrument on the pole is what we use to track the position of the ROV.

08/23/2026

With the tracking system dialed in, ROV navigation was much more straightforward today. We began a coral collecting spree until wind and rain rapidly blew in. The recovery featured some dramatic splashes onto the back deck, but the operations team and vessel crew expertly handled the situation and brought the Mohawk ROV aboard safely.

On this expedition, we are collecting both soft and hard corals that are preserved for analysis on land. Sometimes a branch of coral is nicely exposed for sampling adjacent to a flat patch of sediment. Other times we perch precariously on a rock while trying to find the best place to sample. A branch of a soft coral is often snipped with a blade on the manipulator, a process made difficult by their often dense, swaying fan structure. Hard coral structures are motionless, but they are quite brittle.

08/22/2026

Today we brought back a bio box full of coral samples for the science party to process. (The bio box is the divided drawer where specimens are stored in the ROV.) This was not an easy day in the office! Being the first dive of the cruise, we did not realize the unintended offset of a navigation sensor until we reached the bottom. We fought a discrepancy between heading and our plotted track until realizing we had to perform some additional math to get around effectively. Despite the additional complexity in traveling between points, we found our way to some diverse sites. When the sampling was done for the day, we proceeded to fix our navigation reference before securing operations. If the weather allows, tomorrow will bring another batch of coral samples. Let us know if you would like to hear more about the sampling techniques and technology we use to explore the seafloor!

08/21/2026

Once again the Mohawk ROV has mobilized aboard the R/V Point Sur, sailing from Gulfport, MS for surveys off the West Florida Shelf. Tomorrow’s ROV mission will be dive number 1436 for this vehicle, but will mark the very first dive while operated by the University of Southern Mississippi. I have enjoyed sailing with the UNCW ROV crew on occasion over the last few years and hope to bring the lessons learned from Jason White and the team to the upcoming missions.

On this expedition, a multidisciplinary team will be working around the clock. One group is collecting samples through the night from Mohawk’s muddy neighbor, the MC-800 multicorer.

-Max Woolsey

Address

1030 30th Avenue
Gulfport, MS
39501

Telephone

+19109622317

Website

https://www.usm.edu/vice-president-research/coastal-research.php

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