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On Tue, 15 Nov 1994, Frank Deutschmann wrote: > > I was recently perusing the latest issue of _WIRED Goes Diving_ (aka > _aquaCorps_), when I came accross the interview with Phil Nuytten (of > NEWTSUIT fame). During the course of the interview, M Menduno mentions > that Richard Pyle commented at the Rebreather Forum that "he realizes > that rebreathers are probably just another stop gap untill he gets his > shallow water NEWTSUIT." > > I am really curious about this statement: first, is it true, or another > Menduno exager-hype? About half true, half hype. I've never used the phrase "stop gap" in my life. The real quote (which is recorded on tape somewhere) was something along the lines of "I always knew open circuit was just something to keep me busy until I got my Rebreather. After visiting Phil Nuytten last weekend, I'm begining to wonder if my rebreather is just something to keep me busy until I get my NewtSuit". The quote was, of course, a very light-hearted one. The audience knew it was because they all laughed, as did I. Obviously both are tools, each with their own strengths & weaknesses. In truth, I don't think NewSuits will ever replace rebreathers - at least not in the next couple of decades. If I even remotely believed that, I wouldn't have been first in line to exchange an entire year's salary for a Cis-Lunar Mk-5. > Second, if true, what is the interest in a hard suit, > particularly as opposed to a ROV? It would seem to me that once you loose > dirrect tactile manipulation, fingers, and swimming, you might as well > keep your brain topside, and use a small and highly manuverable ROV instead. When I visited Phil, I caught a whiff of his inspiration, and actually got to see the manufacturing plant - and his ideas for the next generation suit - which forced me to realize how incredible the possibiblities are of being able to stay up to two days at 300+ fsw, with ABSOLUTELY NO DECOMPRESSION! It's really hard to grasp the applications of it until you've had a chance to get right up and touch, taste, and smell an actual suit; and until you get a glimpse of the reality behind Phil's dreams. As for comparison with ROV's, I'd say there really is NO comparison. Again, they are two separate tools. ROV's are great scouts for a few situations, but they are not explorers. They cannot realistically work in very complex habitats. They cannot conduct extensive penetration into overhead environments. And of great importance to me, they cannot collect critters - at least not motile ones like fishes. I think most people would be surprised how much dexterity you can have within the next generation of NewtSuits. The future manipulator hand, for example allows you to roll a pencil between its mechanical fingers. > The ROV would certainly have economic benefits compared to a hard suit, even > without counting insurance costs. With the advances in VR which are currently > taking place, I would expect the ROV approach to be more functional, as well. I wouldn't necessarily agree with that. The next generation NewtSuit is targeted to cost about the same as a mid-priced car. It will probably be lighter in weight than the average ROV's, and will actually probably require LESS logistical support topside. But most of all, it puts the Human brain OnK-Site. Exploration and effective research usually requires cognition, and that simply cannot be transmitted through a 2-dimentional video camera - no matter what the resolution. Yeah, I know, I know...The great God VR holds tremendous promise for allowing 3-d perception of the environment and super-fluid manipulator arms, etc., etc. But as far as I can see, VR is still just a bunch of tremendous promises. O.K., maybe the technology exists or will soon exist, but even simple 3-d imaging requires a Silicon Graphics processor. I just don't see myself sitting in a 17' boat in some nameless remote Pacific Island with a supercomputer to process images (not to mention the generator to power the sucker), when from the same boat, I can drop down to 300' in a hard suit, spend six or seven hours cruising along the ledge or drop-off, come up for lunch, then go back down and spend the rest of the day poking around in holes, collecting critters. That way, I get to take the Supercomputer (my brain - yeah right...) down On-Site, and get REAL real-time feedback. No, the hard suit will not give me the dexterity required to collect some of the fishes, which is why I'll need to go back down with the rebreather to catch the suckers. It always sounds like a wimpy argument, but while remote technology is great for "gathering data", it is simply not useful for true "exploration" O.K., so I didn't answer your question satisfactorily. But that's more a result of my inability to effectively communicate, rather than NewtSuits being useless in light of ROVs. Aloha, Rich Oh, and one more thing. Insurance?! That's only useful for paying lawyers fees. As far as I can tell, lawyers are doing just fine already without my help. ;-> deepreef@bi*.bi*.ha*.or*
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