its job, not to listen for pings but to map the ocean floor and look for debris. to do that, it can use two different payloads, which have to be swapped out. this particular payload section is the acoustic section. reporter: first the bluefin uses side scan sonar and a multibeam echo sounders that bounce sound waves off the ocean floor that aren t natural. if picked up, the bluefin can be brought to the surface. the sonar technology is taken out and high-tech cameras are put in. it s a high definition black and white camera capable of three frames per second. reporter: together they can create a detailed mosaic of the ocean floor. the operators are confident if wreckage from flight 370 is down there, the bluefin will find it. the technology on the auv is good enough that we can resolve something that is, as small as a microwave, perhaps even smaller. reporter: but it s not an easy or fast process. it takes the vehicle two hours to dive to the bottom. 16 hours to search as a
yes. as soon as it did that it had to come back up, because it needed additional instructions, it said, well, look, i have reached my operational limit, now what do i do? basically went back up and said tell me more and fix me up and send me back down. and david, one of the problems, searchers, you know, on top of the water, they don t know the terrain at that depth in the ocean, so, sometimes they can t program that subexactly right. go ahead, david. as far as the programming goes, remember, this is an autonomous vehicle. and with an autonomous vehicle, it s got to make its own decisions while it s under the water, it s not like a robot, driving in it and decide to move it. it has to make its up decision and so it s a matter of programming those decisions in for that particular environment. rob, the weather is too rough right now for the bluefin to go back under the water and this leaves searchers, you know, i guess wondering if this oil
here are not saying, carol. erin mclaughlin, reporting live from perth, australia. despite the bluefin s early return it is the best hope to find flight 370 and it is an amazing piece of technology. reporter: this is a very sophisticated underweather drone essentially. we got access to the operators who run the vehicle who acknowledge this is a difficult job for the bluefin but they say it s up to the task. its manufacturer calls it the bluefin 21, it s technically known as at autonomous underwater vehicle, auv. it s a spart torpedo. reporter: right now it maybe the best remaining hope for finding wreckage from malaysian airlines flight 370. we were given exclusive access behind the scenes at phoenix international, the company which runs the bluefin to see how it works. it may launch from the side of a search ship, the bluefin is operated by remote control with help from a satellite.
the bluefin 21 and the flight for flight 370. the bluefin reached its depth then automatically turned back when it hit about 2.7 miles down into the ocean. apparently the ocean charts were wrong on land. so explain to us what that means. well, a couple of things. first of all, we should know that the bluefin functioned the tway should operate. all auvs have a maximum operating depth. if they doubelow that they risk collapsing in on themselves. for safe operations they picked that depth as a design criteria. so the issue in the ocean is that the bathinatry is not well understood. the best you have, things called soundings from ship that help you understand what the, the general area, but there are going to be regions that could be deeper. regions that will be more shallow. so the vehicle needs to be able to operate as best it can in that without risking loss.
a very sophisticated underwater vehicle designed to take a mosaic of the ocean floor and map it for debris. also why it didn t quite live up to the job on its first deployment. that s just ahead. c mon, you want heartburn? when your favorite food starts a fight, fight back fast, with tums. heartburn relief that neutralizes acid on contact. and goes to work in seconds. tum, tum tum tum. tums! at your ford dealer think? they think about tires. and what they ve been through lately. polar vortexes, road construction, and gaping potholes. so with all that behind you, you might want to make sure you re safe and in control. ford technicians are ready to find the right tires for your vehicle. get up to $120 in mail-in rebates on four select tires when you use the ford service credit card at the big tire event. see what the ford experts think about your tires. at your ford dealer.