http://www.newscientist.com/article...bmarine-to-hunt-for-2000yearold-computer.html
Just thought Id share a random cool story with you guys. I think this kind of thing should be televised more to excite people about science and exploration. Now.. if someone would loan me 1.5 million, i'll be able to go on the bottom of the ocean floor exploring.
Like an underwater Iron Man, a diver will fly around the wreck of an ancient Greek ship later this year, looking to shed light on the Antikythera mechanism
THE world's most advanced robotic diving suit is getting ready to help search for one of the world's oldest computers.
Called Exosuit, the suit has a rigid metal humanoid form with Iron Man-like thrusters that enable divers to operate safely down to depths of 300 metres (see photo).
Though designed for diving in the bowels of New York City's water treatment plants, earlier this month it underwent its first trials in seawater at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Massachusetts. The tests are readying the suit for a daring attempt to excavate an ancient Roman shipwreck off the Greek island of Antikythera in the Aegean Sea. A century ago, divers pulled the world's oldest computer the Antikythera mechanism from the wreck. They are hoping that they will find a second device when they go down in September.
Marine archaeologists normally wear scuba gear to explore underwater sites in person, but the time that divers can spend at depth is limited by the dangers of decompression sickness, or the bends. For deep wrecks, researchers rely on remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) carrying cameras and sonar to scan an area, or large and expensive craft like the Alvin submarine that explored the wreck of the Titanic in 1986.
The $1.5 million Exosuit falls somewhere in between. "It's basically a wearable submarine," says Phil Short, a diving specialist on the planned mission to Antikythera. "The pressure inside is no different from being in a submarine or in fresh air. We can go straight to the bottom, spend 5 hours there and come straight back to the surface with no decompression."
The suit is made from an aluminium alloy, with articulated joints that permit divers to move their arms and legs freely. An umbilical cable from a ship supplies it with power for horizontal and vertical thrusters, and a rebreather that scrubs toxic carbon dioxide from exhaled air, giving 50 hours of life support. The cable also carries voice, video and data links. In the event of an emergency, a battery can power everything but the thrusters, including a back-up communication system.
Foot pedals inside the Exosuit control the four thrusters to maneuver it through the water. And if a diver is busy with a complex task underwater, an operator topside can monitor the Exosuit's video feed and fire the thrusters to keep it in position or even take over completely and bring the suit back to the ship.
Just thought Id share a random cool story with you guys. I think this kind of thing should be televised more to excite people about science and exploration. Now.. if someone would loan me 1.5 million, i'll be able to go on the bottom of the ocean floor exploring.
