The ocean engineering program has recently designed, fabricated 

 and installed, in the Navy-owned submersible Alvin, a 7-foot 

 diameter titanium pressure sphere, a new ballast system, and 

 improved electronics, which give Alvin a 12,000-foot depth 

 capability. Not only will this permit Aivin to conduct in situ research 

 at greater depths, it affords the opportunity to test the technology 

 that went into the design and fabrication of these new components 

 and to evaluate their applicability to other systems. 



The cable-controlled recovery vehicle (CURV III), ooriginally 

 designed for 7500-foot depths, has been redesigned and tested to 

 10,000 feet. This vehicle will now be useful to the Navy in conducting 

 search and salvage operations. Deploying and using it also provides 

 insight into how such vehicles can be made more useful and aids in 

 determining weaknesses in the technology. At the present time a 

 similar unmanned vehicle called the Remote Unmanned Working 

 System (RUWSj is being designed and fabricated for a 20,000-foot 

 depth capability. 



RUWS is an example of the integration of several new components 

 into one system. It will have a head-coupled television in which the 

 TV camera on the submerged vehicle follows the head motion of the 

 operator on board the ship; a manipulator with 7 degrees of freedom 

 which employs force and position feedback; numerous tools 

 adaptable to the manipulator and carried on the vehicle while 

 submerged; a self-contained auxiliary lift device to provide an 

 additional 200 pounds of lift at 20,000 feet if needed; lightweight 

 electromechanical cable that will employ a new synthetic material 

 for strength; and computerized sonar navigation coupled with 

 realtime cathode ray tube displays to track the position of the vehicle 

 relative to the ship. The RUWS is beginning its in-water testing in FY 

 '74, and deep ocean tests are scheduled for FY '75. 



In the area of underwater construction, it is planned to install a 

 triangular-shaped cable array off the west coast in the summer of 

 1974. Implantation of the array will permit evaluation of cables, 

 implantment techniques, embedment anchors, wet-make electrical 

 connectors (a development sponsored by Navy and presently 

 produced commercially), a motion compensating lift system, 

 underwater work vehicles, and other equipment and systems. The 

 array will be instrumented to measure currents and array motion to 

 provide more insight into the response of underwater structures to 

 currents. 



A major ocean engineering effort during the past few years has 

 been the design, assembly, and testing of the Deep Submergence 

 Rescue Vehicle (DSRV). This submersible is intended to give the 

 Navy the capability to rescue personnel from distressed submarines. 

 The DSRV, which is the first of its kind, embracing the most 

 advanced underwater technology, is undergoing extensive testing 



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