An overview of the mechanical features of human occupied vehicles

Abstract

Scientists are using human occupied vehicles to explore underwater environments. There are several mechanical features used in the design of human occupied vehicles. These mechanical features are primarily based on environmental factors such as high external pressure, low temperature, and corrosion resistance. In this paper, human occupied vehicles rated for 6,000 m depth are studied, including Alvin, Jiaolong, MIR-1/MIR-2, Nautile, and Shinkai 6500, as well as vehicles rated at 11,000 m depth, like Deep Sea Challenger, Fendouzhe, and Triton. As a review, this paper examines various mechanical systems in human occupied vehicles, such as the pressure hull, hatch, ballast system, trim system, exo-structure, and syntactic foam. Highlights Features of various human occupied vehicles up to 11,000 m of sea water Comparison of spherical pressure hull, hatch and viewports Various ballast systems adapted in different human occupied vehicle Size and shape of the pressure casings / enclosures Drop weight mechanism used in different human occupied vehicles