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ing the requirements of the certiÞ cation authority. Many years of experience have allowed us to work with different mate- rials and properties, achieving lightweight, high-resistance, Þ re-proof and electrically isolated parts/elements, suitable both for inside the pressure hull and exterior of the vehicle (in water). Finally, the development of a pressure-tolerant li-ion- polymer battery system has been deÞ nitive in the Þ nal weight reduction. As a result, the vehicle does not need the addition of syntactic foam.  Maintenance reduction. Last generation stainless steel has been used for pressure hull so the need for painting and corrosion maintenance has been cancelled. Aluminium mate- rials have been reduced to a minimum, and are never in con- tact with steel or carbon Þ ber parts. The use of composite in shells, the conception of exostructure and farings in one sole body, and a practical anchoring and Þ xing system, allows for a very fast assembly and disassembly of all the systems with very few personnel needed.  Improvement of performance in navigation. The aim was to built an easy to pilot, safety improved vehicle, with Þ ne control on navigation systems. Apart from diving tanks with 600l capacity, also interior buoyancy tanks have been provid- ed with a capacity of 220 liters. They will allow a Þ ne control of the ascent-descent as well as trimming of the vehicle. If we add eight powerful thrusters, 2.5kW each, to the system, we have a vectorial propulsion system on full six degrees of free- dom. Custom-made, pressure-tolerant motor controllers have been designed. They allow for a proportional control on the thrusters and for a pilot-conÞ gurable navigation board. The whole must be an efÞ cient and easy to pilot system.  Improvement of performance in operation. A high power and high energy system has been developed based on lithium-ion-polymer technology. The result is a compact, lightweight and safe battery system that will provide endless capacity to work at a normal load for longer missions (up to 10 hours) and enough power to respond to an emergency with high power requirements. An optimal selection and con- Þ guration of thrusters, the proportional motor drives and the architecture of the whole electric system will add efÞ ciency to the vehicle. Power and communications system has been dimensioned so they can adapt to any task and mission re- quirements, with capability to upload any instrument from the client in an easy and quick way.  Improvement in safety. Three different active safety systems (manually actuated) have been implemented in the vehicle: diving tanks with 258 liters capacity at 1,200m depth, drop-weigh system (200-500kg), emergency buoy with 1,800m high-resistance rope. As passive safety, design has been used also to improve hydrodynamics and to avoid as much as possible entanglement areas. If we add an electrical system distributed architecture and powerful and efÞ cient en- ergy system, the vehicle gains in autonomy, performance and Þ nally: safety. The Vehicle The pressure hull is 1.7m in diameter and it has two acrylic domes, one on top (entry hatch) and one in front: 1.5m ex-ternal diameter, 150¼. The front dome is in a very advanced position with respect to the skids/supports, and it has an in-clination of 10 degrees forward in respect of the vertical, so the vision on the sea ß oor is greatly improved. This allows the three passengers a large Þ eld of view and excellent capa- bilities for ocean observation, as well as the possibility to take high quality photography and video recording from inside the pressure hull. An important effort has been done in design for optimization of space and ergonomics have also been taken in account in order to make submersibles a comfortable place to travel and work. The weigh of the vehicle will be about 5,300kg, so it can be operated from most research vessels, but it can be also towed from harbour if working area is near the coast. Due to shape and diving tanks capacity, passengers can go in/out from wa- ter surface in good sea state. As it has a very reduced size it can Þ t in a 20-ft. container, so itÕs easy to transport to the work place by road, ship or air worldwide. The power system is based on last generation lithium-ion- polymer batteries, which give the vehicle a high power capac- ity: 42 kWh. This means it can work 10 hours full autonomy at normal load capacity and will be able to travel up to 20 nautical miles underwater. Battery system is robust and safe and it can be controlled either automatically or manually, as it can be also double checked and monitored for safety. The Ictineu 3 will have scientiÞ c instrumentation on board, and the data obtained will be published so that they can be used by the scientiÞ c and oceanographic community. SummarySea trials and classiÞ cation are expected during fall 2013, though the pressure hull pressure test was successfully com- pleted in summer 2011.Once the vehicle is Þ nished, the company itself will operate the submersible and offer diving services. Operation of IC- TINEU 3 submersible can be adapted to any need of the client, either for long campaigns on a mother ship or on a daily basis with the need of only a small surface support vessel. A daily mission of 8-10 hours can be run, and a regular time lapse of Þ ve hours will be needed to recharge the batteries, though they can support a fast charge. The company also offers engi- neering services and the possibility to build new submersibles according to client needs. The design and construction of the Ictineu 3 is the result of nearly 10 years of work. Through this period, the project has counted with the selß ess collaboration of many people motivated by the sea, science and technology. Up to 2.000 individuals and organizations have collaborated in a crowd-funding campaign, and a sponsoring opportunity is still open for companies.www.seadiscovery.com Marine Technology Reporter 41MTR #8 (34-49).indd 41MTR #8 (34-49).indd 4110/15/2013 4:32:44 PM10/15/2013 4:32:44 PM