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Specifications

Length:
  • 7.0 meters (23.1 feet)
Beam:
  • 2.6 meters (8.4 feet)
Draft:
  • 2.4 meters (7.9 feet) surfaced
Height:
  • 3.6 meters (11.6 feet)
Operating Depth:
  • 6,500 meters (21,325 feet)
Normal Dive Duration:
  • 6-10 hours
Gross Weight:
  • 20 metric tons (40,000 pounds)
Speed:
  • 0-2 knots (0-2.3 mph)
Science Basket Payload:
  • 181.4 kilograms (400 pounds)
Personnel Sphere Volume:
  • 4.8 cubic meters
Personnel Complement:
  • 1 pilot, 2 observers
Observation:
  • 5 viewports: 3 forward (17" diameter), 2 side (12" diameter)
  • Overlapping fields of view
Electrical Power:
  • 2 banks of lead-acid batteries, each 120 V, 140 AH
Communication:
  • Redundant acoustic telephones (voice or code)
  • Marine band (VHF) radio
  • Sound-powered phone
  • Digital data link through USBL/SMS
Imaging:
  • 2 Optim Premium 4K UHD video cameras with individual pan and tilt
  • 2 Kongsberg OE14-522 HD pan/tilt/zoom cameras near viewports
  • Additional situational cameras available
  • Three 7" HD LCD flat panel displays for in-hull viewing
  • 4K video recorders
  • Hand-held digital camera for use in personnel sphere
Lighting:
  • 12 lighting channels, each 10A, fused at 80A total
  • Multiple positionable LED lamps
  • Situational and emergency lighting
  • Down-looking survey lighting
  • Lasers for optical size reference
Propulsion:
  • 7 thrusters
  • Forward, reverse, lateral capability
  • Auto heading, altitude, and depth
Vehicle Sensors:
  • Fiber-optic PHINS gyrocompass
  • Redundant depth sensors
  • Teledyne RDI Workhorse 600kHz Doppler velocity log
  • Sonardyne AvTrak USBL transceiver
  • GPS sensor
  • Forward-looking Kongsberg obstacle-avoidance sonar
Navigation:
  • Dedicated in-hull navigation with touch screen display
  • Bottom tracking Doppler velocity log
Manipulators/Sampling:
  • 2 Schilling Titan 4 manipulators with 7 degrees of freedom on swing arms
  • ISE manipulator with 6 degrees of freedom
  • 16 sq ft sample basket with 181 kg (400 lb) payload
  • Free-ascent elevator with 90 kg (200 lb) payload
  • Scientific sampling devices:  water samplers, tube corers, bio boxes
Scientific Instrumentation Support:
  • Power: 12, 24 and 120 VDC switched circuits available
  • Hydraulics: 6 available hydraulic circuits
  • SeaBird SBE49 CTD
  • Digital sensor interface
  • Hard-wired sensor interface
  • Integrated data system
  • In-sphere laptop computers
  • In-sphere SeaLog-specific iPads

HOV Alvin

(Illustration by E. Paul Oberlander, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)