Car-Parking Tech Could Unearth the Ocean’s Hidden Resources

Sometimes the best musical theme hail from thinking far , far outside the box . That ’s what Nissan and Japan ’s marine science agency did with their unexampled recondite sea rover . To build it , engineers used the same tech as a park - assist railcar — which is now helping to give scientists a 360 - arcdegree panorama of the ocean floor .

This sea trading floor rover , able of strain depths of 23,000 foundation , uses the same 360 - level camera views that Nissan’sbird’s - eye parking technologyuses . In a car , that tech alerts drivers of what ( and who ) is nearby to fend off accidents when parking . But on control board this new ocean wanderer , it allow researchers a higher-ranking view of the unearthly critters populate in the unexplored chap of Davy Jones ’ Locker . It could ultimately help oneself scientist use ROVs ( remotely operated vehicles ) to name untapped natural resource in the ocean .

This cross - industry joint venture wasannouncedback in April by Nissan , autoparts companionship Topy Industries , and JAMSTEC ( the Japan Agency for Marine - Earth Science and Technology ) . It twist out the parking - assistive technical school is pretty previous , having been enter by Nissan back in 2007 , but this is the first time it ’s been used underwater . And it sound as though it may finally help explore not only to the ocean story , but the aerofoil of other planets : in the first place this year , NASA and Nissansaidthey wanted to work together to use self - drive railcar technical school to build up planetary rovers that are more autonomous .