Untitled

Press, 16 January 1979, Page 13

This is Spider, a new British one man atmopsheric submersible that can be operated at a depth of 600 m by a diver after only 20 hours tuition. With it a specialist in underwater surveillance can make his own on-the-spot assessment without the problems associated with compression and decompression.

The glass reinforced polyester resin of the 2.2 m long Spider provides a lightweight, corrosion resistant, thermally and electrically insulated environment to a depth of 600 m in sea water.

The oxygen concentration and atmospheric, pressure are continuously monitored and controlled by the operator. Carbon dioxide is removed from the Spider’s atmosphere by means of an electrical!' powered scrubber re-circulating the air through a chemical absorber. This makes possible “shirt sleeve” diving for seabed surveying, pipeline inspection, and light construction work on the sea floor.

The submersible is tethered to a mother ship via an umbilical cable that carries lines for power, com munications, an on-board television camera, and data transmission, and is used for launch and recovery. In emergencies the cable can be pettisoned along with the ballast weights and the hydraulic power pack. Emergency batteries on board will then take over to provide 72 hours life support. Spider is propelled by six 1 h.p. thrusters —infinitely variable foot controls permit simultaneous operation of all of them. The operator controls articulated arms that have hydraulically-powered claws with variable grip force. Suction feet lock on to underwater objects to form an anchor and the operator can vary the attitude 45 degrees backwards and 80 degrees nose down from the vertical position. The operator can even select ‘‘autopilot” control to give any desired heading.