[PSUBS-MAILIST] Thrusters, Air & Diesel Musings

[Joe Perkel]

Some quick questions / observations / musing come to mind as I sit here editing videos.
 
It looks to me like Alvin's thrusters all have a 90 deg drive arrangement like yacht bow thrusters. Some of these off the shelf units are hydraulic, but way over powered for a Delta / Gamma sized sub. There are however, lots of little hydraulic motors out there, a slew of them. Ive also seen drive components, reductions, etc, that simply were not available to George. How much trouble would it be to go hydraulic all around? 
 
If DC motors must be used, in my view then the single must have improvement to the T-Rex design is the addition of a mag coupling.
 
Alecs experience has me rethinking self sufficiency. It would be nice to charge the batteries and the HP tanks independent of a surface boat, eliminating the need to raft alongside in swells. All this convenience means a "Tours 66" type of arrangement. But Tours 66 weighed in at 10 tons.
 
Everything is now downsized like that little AC unit I posted,.. take a look at this marine gen-set (note dimensions)  http://www.nextgenerationpower.com/Info/Support/3-5Specs.pdf  
Hmm, could this not be enclosed in the hull during a build, or otherwise slung longways down the hatch into a 42" hull? No prop shaft and seals, (you still get towed) but independent re-charge capability for both batteries and HP air with an equally downsized compressor!?! 
 
So the question of the day is,...
 
Is a comfy air conditioned & self sufficient research capable PSUB for sport diving in Florida / Caribbean waters, a realistic goal at around 3.5 tons and $8-$10 lb?
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www.whoweb.com/pipermail/personal_submersibles/attachments/20131012/d81e5eba/attachment.html>