Underwater drones

Test-driving the Gladius underwater camera drone was awesome, and it made us wonder: what's the state of the art in these devices? That would appear to be the US$30,000 Boxfish ROV, a 55-lb pro video monster with eight vectored thrusters, 20,000 lumens of lighting, and a max dive depth of 3,280 ft.

Underwater drones are starting to become more popular, and the Gladius is one of the better-specified ones you'll find. Capable of diving for over four hours, to depths of 330 ft, with a 4K camera and 2,400-lumen spotlights, it makes for some fascinating underwater exploration.

​Well, it's official – the crowdfunded underwater drones are now coming thick and fast. It was just last week that we heard about the MITO, and now Geneinno's Titan has hit Kickstarter. Among other things, it's reportedly able to dive deeper than almost any other model.

Although there are currently not many consumer underwater drones that are actually being shipped to customers, there are quite a few that are in pre-production. One of the latest, the Navatics MITO, is claimed to shoot steadier video than any other.

​If a just-launched Kickstarter campaign is successful, amateur or even not-so-amateur oceanographers will soon have another underwater drone to choose from. Known as the Nemo, this one promises some high-end standard features, along with a couple of interesting extras.

​If you've ever wanted to explore the underwater world using your own ROV (remotely-operated vehicle), there are now a number of consumer models in the works. The Sibiu Nano is one of the most recent to hit the scene, and it's being made with the do-it-yourselfer in mind.

​There was a time when consumer underwater drones were rarely heard of, but there are now a fair number that are in various stages of production. One of the latest to ping our sonar is the 4K-shooting FiFish P3, from Chinese/Taiwanese company Qysea.

​We've featured a fair number of underwater drones over the past few years, and they're pretty much all remotely-controlled by their shore-based users. Allec, however, is different. It CAN be piloted via remote control, but it can also perform its own autonomous missions.

​Ready to connect with your inner James Cameron, without getting your feet wet? Already, we've seen crowdfunded underwater drones such as the Trident, Gladius and Blueye Pioneer. Now, there's yet another. YouCan's BlueWater 1 (BW1) has just hit Indiegogo.

​While still not as plentiful as their aerial cousins, there are now several underwater drones that are either in development or production. And while almost all of the ones that we've seen so far can't go deeper than 100 m (328 ft), the new Blueye Pioneer can go down to 150 m (492 ft).

​While there are already several underwater drones that allow you peek beneath the surface of your local waterways, they're pretty much all propeller-driven, and are controlled via a physical tether that reaches to the surface. BIKI, however, is a bit different.

​If you're shopping around for an aerial drone, then you'll know that there are now lots of companies making them. What's perhaps a little more surprising, however, is the number of groups offering aquatic drones. Now another one has taken the plunge into the market, in the form of the Gladius.