- Weight: 1,800 kg
- Working depth: 2,500 m
- Speed: 0–2 knots
- Power: 20 kWh (Li-ion batteries)
- Endurance: 4–8 hours depending on type of dive
- Navigation system: Inertial, Doppler
- Positioning: GAPS or USBL-box
- Operating team: 3
2 configurations for seabed/surface communications:
- 2,500 m on the Europe and the deep-sea vessels
- Shallow waters down to 400 m on the Côtes de la Manche
Environmental constraints
- Sea state: 3–4
- Working depth: 60–2,500 m
- Underwater currents: 0.5 knots
- Temperature: -2 to 40 °C
“Exploring and Sampling” configuration
- Manipulator arms, 5 and 7 functions
- Sampling basket, 105 litres
- Suction sampler for fauna, 6 sampling containers
- Pan and tilt imaging set comprising digital camera/laser/HD video camera
“Mapping” configuration
- Multibeam echo sounder
- Acoustic mapping, very high resolution
- Imaging set
- Visual inspection or photogrammetry possible
Thanks to a fibre-optic link to the surface, a depressor (clump weight) decouples the vessel and the submersible, and a special system for managing the tether compensates for the surface vessel’s lack of dynamic positioning.
This device comprises:
- A fine tether called the “vehicle tether” deployed from the vehicle via a constant-tension TMS,
- A towing tether deployed from the clump weight,
- A float connecting these two tethers.
The dynamic management of the two-part tether compensates for the movements of the support vessel in a radius of 300 m around the device’s position.