Similar to an underwater Iron Man, the suit will help diver find more information about the Antikythera mechanism found in the wreck of an ancient Greek ship.
The “Exosuit”, touted as the most advanced robotic diving suit, is soon going to help in search for more information about one of the world's oldest computers – the Antikythera mechanism. According to reports, the tests are being conducted to prepare the suit for an ambitious attempt to excavate an ancient Roman shipwreck off the Greek island of Antikythera in the Aegean Sea.
Almost 100 years ago, divers had discovered the world's oldest computer – the Antikythera mechanism – from the wreck, which is at depth of about 120m (around 400ft), and previous efforts to reach the wreck have led to decompression sickness or death. The Exosuit is expected to search for a second device when it dives in September.
The Iron Man-like suit was initially designed by Nutco as an upgrade of its Newtsuit in 1987. The Exosuit features articulated rotary joints that enable divers to move freely and can work in depth of up to 1000ft (305m). The Exosuit comes with several upgrades over the predecessor.
The Exosuit is built of aluminium alloy and is about 50-350lb (113-159kg) lighter than the Newtsuit. The suit has lesser hours of oxygen supply though – 50 hours as compared to 56. It has less powerful thrusters, but has advanced communications, which is based on a full duplex intercom with six stations.
The control system and recording equipment are also major upgrade over the Newtsuit. The Exosuit uses gigabit Ethernet over fibre optic and is equipped with a HD camera that sends a live video feed to the surface. It also features Imagenex 852 SONAR, as well as voice communications and a data feed.
The Exosuit is connected to the surface through an umbilical cord, providing fibre optic cable and power cable. These can be can be controlled using foot pedals, allowing diver to use the hands and arms for other purposes.
Its learnt that the suit has just finished its first test dive in a tank, and is slated to go for testing as scientific instrument in July. Check out more details about the Exosuit below:
Source: CNET
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