Mysteries of underwater exploration: Imaging the sea floor

Adventures in using autonomous underwater vehicles to explore marine environments.

From ancient shipwrecks to coral bleaching, to deep water hydrothermal vents, the seafloor needs documenting. Stefan and his team have spent over a decade developing autonomous underwater vehicles and imaging platforms to capture the deep blue sea.

This talk will describe the insights they gained over the years. Stefan will explain how the team’s millions of images of seafloors around Australia are essential to engineering, marine ecology, archaeology and geoscience.

Touching on cyclone recovery, submerged neolithic settlement sites and methane seeps, these observations are providing important insights into how the oceanographic conditions of ecological sites change over time.

Bio

Stefan Williams is the Director of the Digital Sciences Initiative at the University of Sydney and Professor of Marine Robotics at the Australian Centre for Field Robotics. He leads the Marine Systems group and is head of Australia’s Integrated Marine Observing System Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Facility.

Stefan’s research focuses on navigation, mapping, planning and control of autonomous marine systems. He also interprets the data collected by these systems.

Also speaking at Soultrap at 6:00PM is Richard Savoie

About the venue - Soultrap

Soultrap is a unique, underground speakeasy style bar right in the heart of Surry Hills. 

This bare-brick speakeasy space is yours to transform – from memorable themed parties to intimate gatherings and corporate events.