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MBARI engineers have achieved a major milestone by deploying the MOLA autonomous underwater vehicle for its first under-ice surveys in the Arctic.
The expedition took place offshore of Utqiagvik, Alaska, where the CoMPAS Lab team operated the vehicle beneath approximately two meters of sea ice. Known as the MOLA AUV — which stands for multimodality, observing, low-cost, agile autonomous underwater vehicle — the portable robot is designed to gather high-resolution data in complex ocean environments. It can be operated autonomously or controlled by a pilot and features an innovative sensor suite powered by advanced algorithms developed by lab engineers.
The project was funded by the North Pacific Research Board and conducted alongside collaborators from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management, and Michigan Technological University. Led by MBARI Postdoctoral Fellow Pushyami Kaveti, the team worked in shallow, confined conditions to perform high-resolution seafloor mapping.
During several dives, the vehicle demonstrated reliable navigation using onboard imaging and sonar. These results highlight the maturity of compact, easy-to-deploy platforms for under-ice operations and underscore the value of applying advanced robotics to research in extreme environments.
