TEST RESULTS 



Several in-water tests of the EAVE WEST testbed submersible were con- 

 ducted during its development. Most of these tests, designed to validate the 

 proper operation of various subsystem components and software control rou- 

 tines, were performed at NOSC's Transducer Calibration Facility (TRANSDEC) 

 test pool, where the water was clear enough to allow easy visual and photo- 

 graphic observation of the vehicle's performance. Pool tests were also a pro- 

 tection against loss of the vehicle due to unexpected behavior, system mal- 

 functions, or container flooding during its early stages of development. 

 Tests were later performed in San Diego Bay off the NOSC pier. Although the 

 water clarity and resulting visibility were poor, an idea of the vehicle's 

 performance under more stringent conditions and in saltwater was obtained. 

 Tests will eventually be performed at the NOSC San Clemente Island Facility, 

 where performance of simulated inspection missions can be observed in rela- 

 tively clear water (the optical volume attenuation coefficient is 

 approximately 0.2/m). 



INITIAL TESTS 



Initial tests of the vehicle were performed at TRANSDEC in October 1978, 

 while the vehicle was programmed to operate directly from a "dumb" ADM-3 ter- 

 minal and was launched entirely in a preprogrammed trajectory mode. All con- 

 sole man/machine interaction programs and the vehicle's routines were stored 

 in firmware within the vehicle's existing 8-bit 12 kilobytes of PROM memory. 

 Only 2 kilobytes of RAM were required within the vehicle's memory to perform 

 the scratchpad calculations to execute these programs. Most routines were 

 originally written in Intel's 8080 microprocessor assembly language. There 

 were no visual or data sensors on the vehicle at the time, and there was no 

 real-time data or control communication link to the console subsequent to the 

 vehicle's launch. The vehicle was simply preprogrammed to transit to the 

 center of the pool area, execute a series of maneuvers, and return to the side 

 of the pool. One of the significant features, however, was that it success- 

 fully performed these exercises using only a single small microprocessor (a 

 total hardware cost of only $3000). An underwater photograph taken of the ve- 

 hicle during this first operation is shown in figure 18. The results of these 

 tests and a description of the status of the EAVE WEST submersible at the time 

 are described in reference 14. 



Accomplishments 



During the first single-computer configuration test at TRANSDEC, the fol- 

 lowing results were achieved: 



1. The vehicle was trim-ballasted according to theoretical calculations 

 based upon estimated system component weight. The submersible was 

 found to be 40 lb positively buoyant rather than the 86 lb previously 

 calculated, which represented an error of less than 10 percent of the 

 total vehicle weight. 



41 



