Underwater Vehicle Lab
The Underwater Vehicle lab operates two advanced underwater vehicles, providing services to members of the Israeli deep sea scientific community from various disciplines such as Marine Biology, Geophysics and Marine Archaeology.
The deep water capable AUV and ROV are advanced tools, unique in the region in their capabilities to perform surveys, sample collection and other work at depths of up to 3000 meters.
The vehicles are operated upon request by researchers, often using the IOLR research vessel and the RV Bat-Galim as the operating platform.
Themo Buoy
THEMO (Texas A&M - University of Haifa Eastern Mediterranean Observatory)” is an observatory comprising of two sensor arrays attached to 2.25 m diameter surface buoys.
THEMO includes a shallow mooring (125 m) in the coastal zone of the Levant Basin of the Mediterranean Sea, and a deep mooring (1500 m) located 50 km from the northern shores of Haifa after the continental shelf. The two moorings have real time RF communication capabilities, and the data is received at a shore station.
Visit the official website of the Themo Buoy here.
Saltwater Pool
Our saltwater pool is used to test underwater vehicles and other equipment prior to deployment at sea. A 2.5t crane reaches over the entire area of the pool. There is a tow carriage which bridges over the pool for deploying equipment and for other operations.
Width: 3 m
Length: 9 m
Depth: up to 2.8 m
Pressure Test Chamber
Our test chamber is used to pressure test various equipment designed to be used in deep water research.
Width: 0.4 m
Height: 1.4 m
Rated to 300 bar.
Electronics and Prototyping Lab
The electronics and prototyping lab is used for 3D printing (prototypes and assembly support parts), electronic work (soldering, cabling and prototype testing) and small-scale machining.
Tools: Ultimaker S5 and Ultimaker 2+ 3D printers, soldering iron, power supply, signal generator, drill press, dremel.
Machine Shop
The Machine shop is used by the department team to manufacture small parts. We have a small CNC milling machine and a manual lathe.
