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Flying is for suckers! These new mini-submarine drones take a GoPro underwater

By Hillary K. Grigonis June 7, 2016

seawolf 360 vr mini submarine

While shooting without someone behind the camera is normally a job for the drones (or robots), Seawolf takes that concept underwater with mini-submarines. Now, the latest addition to the Seawolf line takes the 360 experience underwater.

The submersible take on drone photography isn’t new, but the Seawolf line tends to make the idea a bit more affordable with systems that use a mount for a popular camera like a GoPro instead of a built-in rig. The company, TTRobotics, introduced its GoPro subs last year with two versions, one for sea and one for fresh water.

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The Seawolf VR360, still in development, incorporates the Luna, a 360-degree camera popular because of its small size; and uses a GoPro and goggles to navigate. While the sub can’t dive quite as deep as the other options, it’s still capable of heading down about 80 feet.

The rig’s top speed is 2 knots — that’s ocean-speak for a little over 2 mph. Weighing over 20 pounds, the mini-sub is still a bit hefty to use.

The company also recently introduced the Seawolf Chrome, which is controlled with an iPhone or iPad via Wi-Fi instead of the traditional joystick controller. The Chrome has an operation range of about 160 feet.

The Seawolf Deep Sea Challenger, also yet to be released, is capable of heading nearly 200 feet under water.

With the VR360, Chrome and Challenger still in development, there’s no word on price yet. The Seawolf Sport, designed for freshwater use with a GoPro, sells for $999. The VR360 and Challenger, with a few more features, will likely be priced a bit higher, while the lack of a controller could potentially put the Chrome a bit lower.

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Hillary K. Grigonis

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Hillary never planned on becoming a photographer—and then she was handed a camera at her first writing job and she's been…

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The major hardware changes we're seeing are improvements to processing power with the new GP2 processor and an improved image sensor that beefs up from 20-megapixels to 23-megapixels The Hero 10 Black is also expected to support 5.3K video recording at a smooth 60 frames per second (fps), 4K videos at 120 fps, and 2.7K videos at 240 fps. The last one can help you create high-resolution slow-motion clips. This is a considerable improvement over previous models that only supported 5K recording at 30 fps and 4K recording at 60 fps.

Marketing materials seen by WinFuture hint that Hero 10 Black’s in-camera software stabilization will see an improvement to offer "gimbal-like stabilization", after being upgraded to HyperSmooth 4.0 and TimeWarp 3.0 for time-lapse videos. Users can also enjoy an auto-upload function to transfer files online at a much quicker speed. The Hero 10 Black also supports 1080p live streaming, the same as previous models. Finally, the Hero 10 Black is said to offer 10 meters deep housing, touchscreen controls, and voice accessibility. Users can also access the webcam mode along with SuperPhoto and HDR options. These features combined with the improved recording capability have the potential to be a gamechanger for streamers and on-the-scene photographers.
The company hasn’t made a formal announcement so we don’t know how much the Hero 10 Black would cost. The previous edition, Hero 9 Black was released at $450 and is currently priced at $400 (excluding the subscription), so we can expect a number around this range, perhaps a bit higher. Given the scale of the recent leaks, the launch of the Hero 10 Black is likely to be imminent.

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