by David Brooks | Jul 1, 2022 | Blog, Newsletter | 0 comments

Keeping track of underwater robots is hard since GPS doesn’t travel far through water. Dartmouth researchers say drones can spot them using nothing more than laser light.

One key issue was the low intensity of the light that came back to the drone. It was too low for a light sensor to capture. The researchers came up with a novel deign for a ring made of optical fibers that could cumulatively collect enough light, which they focused onto a super sensitive sensor placed at their center. This flower-like ring inspired the system’s name – Sunflower.

The report is here from Dartmouth news.

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Dave Brooks has written a science/tech column since 1991 – yes, that long – and has written this blog since 2006, keeping an eye on topics of geekish interest in and around New Hampshire, from software to sea level rise, population dynamics to printing (3-D, of course). He moderates monthly Science Cafe NH discussions, beer in hand, and discusses the geek world regularly on WGIR-AM radio..

Brooks earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics but got lost on the way to the Ivory Tower and ended up in a newsroom. He has reported for newspapers from Tennessee to New England. Rummage through his bag of awards you’ll find oddities like three Best Blog prizes from the New Hampshire Press Association and a Writer of the Year award from the N.H. Farm and Forest Bureau, of all places. He joined the Concord Monitor in 2015.