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system in a two phase effort. This system will consist of three subsystems: 

 (1) a continuous seafloor sediment retrieval system; (2) a shipboard sample 

 preparation system and (3) a shipboard multi-element analysis system. Phase I, 

 began in the middle of 1978 and involved the development of the retrieval 

 and sample preparation units and the performance of an at sea test/evaluation 

 in clear waters to enable visual and photographic documentation of the undersea 

 mechanisms. The field tests were successfully conducted in June 1979 with 

 the prototype system in shallow waters off the Florida coast. The system 

 demonstrated the capability for underway collection (maximum 30 second sampling 

 interval) and shipboard processing/storage (3 5mm diameter, dewatered and dried 

 wafers coated for preservation on a strip chart) . 



Phase II of this project will involve the development of shipboard analytical 

 capabilities to enable on-line analysis of samples, followed by at sea tests 

 of the total system. After these two phases are completed all of the test 

 results and system improvements will be incorporated into a design suitable 

 for a tethered or untethered vehicle configuration depending on how the system 

 functions are subdivided. 



5.4.2.C Sub-Bottom Profiling 



The goal of this program is to develop advanced techniques for profiling the 

 sub-bottom structure of the sea bed by non-intrusive techniques. It is anticipated 

 that NOAA missions related to ocean dumping, environmental assessment and mineral 

 resource assessment will benefit by this technology. 



The project, referred to as time delay spectrometry and initiated at the Jet 

 Propulsion Laboratory, shows promise for improved performance in sub-bottom 

 profiling resolution and penetration depth. An experimental system has been 

 developed and undergone limited testing. The system employs advanced transmission 

 and signal processing using a frequency modulating or "chirp" technique. The 

 entire system is packaged into a towed vehicle configuration. NOAA' s ' Of f ice 

 of Ocean Engineering suppotted this 'project with the' joint cooperation of 

 NOAA's National Ocean Survey in conducting evaluation tests at sea to obtain 

 high quality data for correlation with soil properties derived by coring. 

 If the results are promising, ' this concept can be developed into a modular 

 unit for incorporation into towed vehicle systems. 



5.5 MANIPULATION 



Industrial use of manipulators on ROVs is, as discussed previously, minimal. 

 Consequently, advanced research in this area (on the part of the commercial 

 operator) is not a high priority item, and the most sophisticated commercial 

 manipulative system is represented by that present on Saab Scania' s ORCA (see 

 Section 2.1.7.d) . 



In the academic/government community active research and development in underwater 

 manipulative systems is being conducted by the Department of Mechanical Engineering 

 MIT, with funding from the Office of Naval Research. The results of this 

 work through July 1978 are presented by Sheridan and Verplank (1978) in the 

 report Human and Computer Control of Undersea Teleoperators. The authors define 



