Ancient pharaohs had round-the-clock guards watching their tombs. Today, some of the world’s most critical infrastructure sits on the seabed with far less attention, mostly because adequate tech doesn't exist. Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) are now developing something closer to a permanent subsea guard: an autonomous underwater robot that can live at a docking station on the seabed, leave to inspect infrastructure, return on its own, recharge, and upload data without human intervention.

Ancient pharaohs had round-the-clock guards watching their tombs. Today, some of the world’s most critical infrastructure sits on the seabed with far less attention, mostly because adequate tech doesn't exist. Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) are now developing something closer to a permanent subsea guard: an autonomous underwater robot that can live at a docking station on the seabed, leave to inspect infrastructure, return on its own, recharge, and upload data without human intervention.