Patent ID: 8047154

Claim:
An array system including a sensor array submerged in surrounding water comprising a first ballast housing; a second, separate ballast housing; the first and second housing connected via a flexible connector cable; one or more sensor elements connected between the first and second housing for collecting and transmitting information via the flexible cable; the first ballast housing including a first rigid outer shell and a first expandable reservoir containing a residual amount of a ballast fluid, different in density than the surrounding water, resulting in a volume lower than a maximum extent imposed by the rigid outer shell; the second ballast housing including a second rigid hollow shell and a second expandable reservoir containing a quantity of the ballast fluid expanded into the second reservoir to the extent allowed by the second rigid hollow shell, a controllable pump mechanism for controlling transfers of the ballast fluid between the first and second ballast housings via a fluid conduit to change the center of mass, center of buoyancy or attitude of the submerged sensor array without altering the net buoyancy of the system while not causing any net negative or positive gain in total buoyancy of the array system.