Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute

Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (mbari)

Ed Mellinger

Christopher A Scholin

William J Kirkwood

Thomas C O'Reilly

Danelle E Cline

Farley Shane

Knut Strietlien

David K Wright

Joseph Andrew Gashler

Eugene I Massion

Douglas Au

Mark Brown

Mark Griese

An assembly for an underwater vehicle that includes a motor, a duct assembly, and an actuator. The duct assembly includes a duct and a propeller mounted within the duct, where the propeller is driven by the motor. The actuator is connected to the duct assembly and the vehicle. The actuator pivots the duct assembly with respect to the vehicle. Alternatively, the assembly includes a motor, a duct having a generally cylindrical shape oriented about a longitudinal axis, and a propeller having an axis of rotation. The propeller is mounted within the duct and is driven by the motor. The propeller and the duct are connected such that the axis of rotation and the longitudinal axis have a fixed orientation with respect to one another. The assembly includes a configuration for changing an orientation of the axis of rotation and the longitudinal axis with respect to the vehicle.

Tail assembly for an underwater vehicle

An aquatic autosampler device for frequent collection of discrete samples of microorganisms at various locations and depths. The aquatic autosampler device moves a filter disk within a filter housing from a filter carousel into a filter housing holder. The filter housing holder, slidably mounted on a linear shuttle, moves the filter housing into a process position, where a syringe draws fluid in through a valve manifold and through the filter disk to collect samples on the filter disk. Reagents may then be passed over the filter disk to enable image-based identification and quantification of the cells on the filter disk. An imaging system on the autosampler may capture a fluorescent image of the microorganisms on the filter disk and store the image in a control computer. The filter housing may then be returned to the filter carousel for storage and further lab processing.

Aquatic autosampler device

Growing community of inventors

Monterey, CA, United States of America

Ed Mellinger