Underwater Iron Man to search for world’s oldest computer #WearableWednesday
CNET has the story on this incredible mission that is using the most advanced diving suit in the world to search for ancient technology.
The Exosuit — the most advanced diving suit in the world — was originally designed to help study deep-sea flora and fauna, but it will soon be deployed in the search for more information about what is called the world’s oldest computer — the Antikythera mechanism.
The Antikythera wreck lies at a depth of 120m (around 400ft), and early attempts to reach the wreck resulted in decompression sickness and death. The Exosuit suit will allow a diver to spend a greater time working at the wreck site, hopefully leading to the retrieval of more artefacts — and more information about the mysterious Antikythera mechanism.
The Exosuit qualifies as an atmospheric diving suit (ADS) — a one-person anthropomorphic submarine that allows divers to operate at depths where the pressure would normally crush an unprotected diver.
The suit was designed by Nuytco as an upgrade of its Newtsuit designed in 1987. Like the Newtsuit, the Exosuit has articulated rotary joints that allow the diver to move freely and can be used up to a depth of 1000ft (305m). The Exosuit, however, introduces several upgrades.
Crafted of aluminium alloy, it’s 250-350lb (113-159kg) lighter than the Newtsuit. It has fewer hours’ worth of life support oxygen supply — 50 hours compared to 56 — and less powerful thrusters coming in at 1.6hp rather than 2.25hp; but it also has much more advanced communications, relying on a full duplex intercom with six stations.
Its control system and recording equipment is much better, too, using gigabit Ethernet over fibre optic, connected to a high-definition camera that sends a live video feed to the surface and allows the crew to monitor the diver, an Imagenex 852 SONAR, as well as voice comms and a data feed.
The suit is connected to the surface via an umbilical cord, which supplies both the fibre optic cable and the power cable for the vertical and horizontal thrusters. These are controlled using foot pedals, leaving the hands and arms free for more complex tasks using the claws.
Every Wednesday is Wearable Wednesday here at Adafruit! We’re bringing you the blinkiest, most fashionable, innovative, and useful wearables from around the web and in our own original projects featuring our wearable Arduino-compatible platform, FLORA. Be sure to post up your wearables projects in the forums or send us a link and you might be featured here on Wearable Wednesday!
Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat and our Discord!
Python for Microcontrollers – Adafruit Daily — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: The latest on Raspberry Pi RP2350-E9, Bluetooth 6, 4,000 Stars and more! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi
EYE on NPI – Adafruit Daily — EYE on NPI Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC Step-Down Power Module #EyeOnNPI @maximintegrated @digikey
Every Wednesday is Wearable Wednesday here at Adafruit! We’re bringing you the blinkiest, most fashionable, innovative, and useful wearables from around the web and in our own original projects featuring our wearable Arduino-compatible platform, FLORA. Be sure to post up your wearables projects in the forums or send us a link and you might be featured here on Wearable Wednesday!