GLADIUS MINI – A Small Underwater Drone with Enormous Exploratory Potential

After the Editor received the GLADIUS MINI underwater drone, we immediately launched a silly creative contest on our fan page, inviting everyone to let their imaginations run wild and guess what this little yellow gadget could possibly be. Hilarious answers came flooding in like snowflakes — let's take a look at just how absurd the top five really were!

1. A whale's colonoscope

2. An underwater extension cord and power strip

3. A wired remote tracker for walking your dog underwater

4. A miniature submarine you climb into and shrink down to perform surgery inside human organs

5. An Earth Mother–exclusive semi-automatic, probe-type, levitating, jet-propelled variable-frequency endoscope

What Is an Underwater Drone?

Even though the answers to our silly contest were genuinely creative, it wasn't hard to see that they all touched on the product's core characteristic — "exploration." Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs), also known as underwater drones, are divided into two categories based on how they are operated. The first type are ROVs (Remotely Operated underwater Vehicles), which are connected via fiber-optic cable and controlled by an operator on the surface. The second type are AUVs (Autonomous Underwater Vehicles), which operate without human remote control. ROVs are generally used for commercial applications, while AUVs are favored for military or scientific purposes. Since the GLADIUS MINI we tested drags a long tail behind it, you've probably already figured out it's an ROV!

The vast blue ocean has harbored countless secrets since time immemorial, waiting for people to discover them — yet physical constraints such as human respiration and underwater pressure have kept those secrets buried for millennia. As technology advanced, the RMS Titanic, which sank in the Atlantic in 1912, was located by Professor Robert Ballard using the submersible Argo, leading to the precious footage of the wreck captured by Canadian director James Cameron in 1995, which in turn inspired the blockbuster film Titanic in 1997.

Weaving footage shot by submersibles together with the memories of survivors to reconstruct the story and recreate the night of the sinking — a testament to the test of human values under extreme pressure.

The advent of drones, then, is built on humanity's innate drive to explore the deep blue. CHASING has taken underwater drone technology a step further, extending it from the realms of national defense and scientific research into commercial and everyday applications, dramatically broadening its potential uses. So let's unbox the CHASING GLADIUS MINI and see just how remarkable it really is!

Watch the Video Introduction Before Reading On!

The CHASING GLADIUS MINI package includes the drone itself, a relay module (similar to a wireless transmitter that broadcasts a Wi-Fi signal to interact with your smartphone as the controller), a control handle, and 50 m of fiber-optic cable. Assembly is not particularly difficult — simply connect the drone and the relay module to the fiber-optic cable, power everything on, and the system will start up automatically.

Once everything is connected, the indicator lights on the relay module will display the current battery level, the Wi-Fi frequency band in use (you can press the settings button to toggle between the 2.4G and 5G bands), and the ROV connection status. Next, grab your smartphone and connect it to the relay module via Wi-Fi. Once that's done, enable Bluetooth on your phone to pair it with the controller. After completing these steps, the camera feed will appear on your phone screen!

As you can see in the image above, the drone's control panel displays the current depth, water temperature, tilt angle, and heading — all extremely useful information for exploration purposes. There are also a few standout features worth sharing:

1. The controller allows you to adjust the camera angle upward or downward, enabling more varied shot compositions. This tilt function is also highly practical when used for hull inspections, as it lets you observe the underside of a vessel from a high upward angle.

2. Depth-hold mode and stabilization mode give you more flexibility during operation and help produce steadier footage.

3. Three speed settings — L, M, and H — make low-speed mode especially useful when you need smooth, stable footage.

4. The camera supports 4K recording with built-in white balance control and color adjustment, which is a thoughtful touch for users who prefer not to post-process their footage.

GLADIUS MINI Preliminary Test Summary:

As a diver, the Editor was initially puzzled about exactly where a little yellow minion like this would fit in. But after putting it in the water for the first time and actually piloting it, I suddenly realized this machine is something of a small giant. Here are a few application scenarios we brainstormed:

• Scouting unfamiliar dive sites or locating objects: While a diver can certainly strap on a scuba tank and jump in to take a look, factors such as the limited number of tanks a boat can carry, personal no-decompression limits, depth restrictions (40 m for recreational scuba diving), and time constraints on reconnaissance all add up. That's where this underwater drone — capable of reaching 100 m depth and operating for up to 2 hours — becomes the go-to tool.

• Hull inspections: Whether commercial vessels or fishing boats, ships that have been in service for a while need to be hauled out for hull inspections and barnacle removal. Traditionally, this required divers to inspect the hull using scuba in the murky water of a harbor, which posed risks including extremely low visibility and skin infections. A little drone like this can step right into that role, making hull inspection work safer and far more convenient.

• Competitive recreation: After a brief test run, what actually excited the Editor most was the potential for competitive and recreational use. Piloting the drone is genuinely fun — beyond directional control, you also have to factor in depth, adding an extra dimension to the challenge. Perhaps in the future the manufacturer could organize exploration events in calm water bodies, letting children discover the ocean through gamified experiences that incorporate marine environmental education!

Areas We Hope to See Improved in the Future:

• The cable needs to be let out before each dive and reeled back in upon return. Since the standard fiber-optic cable is a full 50 m long, it's very difficult for one person to manage alone — you really need a dedicated cable tender to handle reeling in and out simultaneously. We've heard the manufacturer is developing an automatic cable management device, so we'll be watching that space with great interest!

• The relay module is currently not waterproof, which is a fairly significant risk given that operations always take place near the water's edge. For now, you have to hold it close and protect it carefully (laughs). We hope the manufacturer will consider adding waterproofing to the relay module in a future version.

• The drone currently supports underwater live streaming, which is a genuinely attractive feature for commercial operators running events — such as freediving competitions — but at present it only supports live streaming to personal Facebook accounts. We hope the ability to stream to fan pages will be added in a future update.

Related links:

• CHASING Official Website

• GLADIUS MINI Product Specifications

• Gear Maintenance Class – TUSA BC Care