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''Deepsea Challenger'' (DCV 1) is a deep-diving submersible designed to reach the bottom of Challenger Deep, the deepest known point on Earth. On March 26, 2012, Canadian film director James Cameron piloted the craft to accomplish this goal in the second manned dive reaching the Challenger Deep. Built in Sydney, Australia by the research and design company Acheron Project Pty Ltd, ''Deepsea Challenger'' includes scientific sampling equipment and high-definition 3-D cameras, and reached the ocean's deepest point after roughly two hours of descent from the surface. == Development == ''Deepsea Challenger'' was secretly built in Australia, in partnership with the National Geographic Society and with support from Rolex, in the Deepsea Challenge program. The construction of the submersible was headed by Australian engineer Ron Allum. Many of the submersible developer team members hail from Sydney's cave diving fraternity including Allum himself with many years cave diving experience. Working in a small engineering workshop in Leichhardt, Sydney, Allum created new materials including a specialized structural syntactic foam called Isofloat, capable of withstanding the huge compressive forces at the depth. The new foam is unique in that it is more homogeneous and possesses greater uniform strength than other commercially available syntactic foam yet, with a specific density of about 0.7, will float in water. The foam is composed of very small hollow glass spheres suspended in an epoxy resin and comprises about 70% of the submarine's volume.〔 〕 The foam's strength enabled the ''Deepsea Challenger'' design to incorporate thruster motors as part of the infrastructure mounted within the foam but without the aid of a steel skeleton to mount various mechanisms. The foam supersedes gasoline filled tanks for flotation as used in the historic submarine, Bathyscaphe ''Trieste''. Allum also built many innovations, necessary to overcome the limitations of existing products (and presently undergoing development for other deep sea vehicles). These include pressure balanced oil filled thrusters;〔 (【引用サイトリンク】title=Thruster with integral PBOF driver )〕 light emitting diode lighting arrays; new types of cameras; and fast reliable penetration communications cables allowing transmissions through the hull of the submersible.〔 (【引用サイトリンク】title=Ron Allum )〕 Allum gained much of his experience developing the electronic communication used in Cameron's Titanic dives in filming Ghosts of the Abyss, Bismarck and others.〔〔 〕 Power systems for the submarine were supplied by lithium batteries that were housed within the foam and can be clearly seen in publicity photographs of the vessel.〔 (【引用サイトリンク】title=Lithium polymer (LIPO) cell packs )〕 The lithium battery charging systems were created and designed by the Australian Leichhardt team. The submersible contains over 180 onboard systems, including batteries, thrusters, life support, 3D cameras, and LED lighting.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Systems Technology )〕 These interconnected systems are monitored and controlled by a programmable automation controller (PAC) from Temecula, California-based controls manufacturer Opto 22.〔 〕〔 〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= Performance Under Pressure – Off-the-shelf SNAP PAC System controls DEEPSEA CHALLENGER for James Cameron's historic dive )〕〔 〕 During dives, the control system also recorded depth, heading, temperature, pressure, battery status, and other data, and sent it to the support ship at three-minute intervals〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=We've Got a Deep-Diving Sub )〕 via an underwater acoustic communication system developed by West Australian company L-3 Nautronix. The crucial structural elements, such as the backbone and pilot sphere that carried Cameron, were engineered by the Tasmanian company Finite Elements. The design of the interior of the sphere, including fire proofing, condensation management and mounting of control assemblies was undertaken by Sydney-based industrial design consultancy Design + Industry.〔 (【引用サイトリンク】title=Deepsea Challenger Pilot Sphere )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Deepsea Challenger」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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