New Endurance AUV

[ethanb]

They wanted to test it in cold water and under the ice prior to the trip to Antarctica.  Stone Aerospace is based in Texas, so I doubt they could find any frozen lakes there.  I would be surprised if they hadn't done testing in a chilled environment down there, but they have been having some problems with certain components, so maybe they ran out of time.  Having been involved in prototype vehicle projects before, I know how much gets done in a rush at the last minute and it's not unusual to miss out on a lot of testing you've planned to do.  I think it's great that they have it ready to test here now.  I am not sure why they didn't test it in Chicago, but perhaps it was easier and cheaper to get permits and the conditions in Lake Mendota are a lot more controlled than Lake Michigan or the Chicago River or something...  They want to do some runs where it leaves the hole and autonomously under the ice and Mendota is a pretty safe spot for that.

Ethan