Epaulard, a French AUV AUVs are untethered mobile instrumentation platforms which have actuators, sensors, and on-board intelligence to successfully complete survey and sampling tasks. Unmanned operation without a tether both offers great opportunities and difficult technical challenges. The French AUV-Autonomous Underwater Vehicles, Epaulard ("Killer Whale") was built by IFREMER-Institut Francais de Recherche pour l`exploitation de la Mer (French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea), manufactured in 1980, is considered a first generation deep dive AUV. Fish shaped, 2,900kg it has been designed for photographic and bathymetric survey of sea-bed, Its untethered operations at abyssal depths have been rated at 6,000 meters. It navigates at constant altitude over the sea-bed, remote-controlled by means of acoustic commands and tracked by an ultrashort baseline system. A vertical thruster allows it to pass over obstacles. Can be seen on display infront of the IFREMER institut. Back to History Index Image Country Year Description Turks and Caicos Is. 1997 1979.Epaulard robot survey craft (AUV)