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George, I am very aware of the diving practices in
You have to look at it from a different
perspective then from an ROV or a diver. A line ingested into the prop of a
submersible could mean you are stranded on the bottom. Current commercial and
research submersibles can often drop an entangled propulsive unit if entangled
but in most PSUBS this isn’t practical. Movement about a wreck or a
significant coral reef in a submersible towing a buoy is an accident waiting to
happen. Your all around situational awareness is greatly reduced as compared
to a diver (who does often get entangled, either himself or in a real wreck,
not a put down wreck that is stripped clean). ROVs also get fouled but you can
shear the umbilical at the ROV (the ROV doesn’t always make it back to
the surface though) or some times pull ROV to the surface with the fouled
object. PSUBS do not have mush reserve buoyancy with dropping their drop
weight and this may still not be enough to clear a foul. Without towing
anything, entanglement can be a big issue for submersibles. Two prime examples
are the Johnson Sea-Link submersible disaster years ago where Ed Link’s
son was lost after the sub became entangled in I believe it was the Kendrick
off of A submersible that bottoms-out and reels
out and recovers a GPS buoy to the surface introduces added complications to
the sub…cable reel and control, data transfer through a submerged slip
ring on the reel, additional hull penetration(s) for the data and reel power
and control, space inside the sub to accommodate the added equipment, and
another appendage to get fouled on. It isn’t as simple as you suggest. Respectfully, Jay K. Jeffries Andros Is., From: owner- You have to also take into consideration that I build Robotic
underwater vehicles. so I have a slightly different safety outlook. But towing
things underwater is pretty common here in Also the idea is the buoy wouldn't be "Towed" so
much as the submersible would stop and take a reading at depth and then
continue on it's course. I just don't want to have to surface the vehicle to
get a fix. as to the KISS, this is VERY keep it simple. It's one simple
mechanical function of releasing a buoy, taking a reading letting the onboard
computer do a calculation and then retrieving the buoy and letting the vehicle
adjust it's course from there. George H. Slaterpryce III |