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Concept
Atmospheric diving suit
Summary
An atmospheric diving suit (ADS) is a small one-person articulated submersible which resembles a suit of armour, with elaborate pressure joints to allow articulation while maintaining an internal pressure of one atmosphere. An ADS can enable diving at depths of up to for many hours by eliminating the majority of significant physiological dangers associated with deep diving. The occupant of an ADS does not need to decompress, and there is no need for special breathing gas mixtures, so there is little danger of decompression sickness or nitrogen narcosis when the ADS is functioning properly. An ADS can permit less skilled swimmers to complete deep dives, albeit at the expense of dexterity.
Atmospheric diving suits in current use include the Newtsuit, Exosuit, Hardsuit and the WASP, all of which are self-contained hard suits that incorporate propulsion units. The Hardsuit is constructed from cast aluminum (forged aluminum in a version constructed for the US Navy for submarine rescue); the upper hull is made from cast aluminum, while the bottom dome is machined aluminum. The WASP is of glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) body tube construction.
An atmospheric diving suit is a small one-person submersible with articulated limbs encasing the diver. Water- and pressure-tight joints allow articulation while maintaining an internal pressure of approximately one atmosphere. Mobility may be through thrusters for mid-water operation, though this is not a requirement, and articulated legs may be provided for walking on the substrate.
Thornton (2000) distinguishes an ADS from a submersible in that the ADS has human powered articulated limbs, as opposed to remotely operated articulated limbs. It is not clear whether this would exclude servo-assisted limbs encasing those of the operator, as a powered exoskeleton, but it might be reasonable to include them as atmospheric diving suits.
An atmospheric diving suit may be classified as a manned submersible and a self-propelled, manned, one-atmosphere underwater intervention device, but has also been classified as an atmospheric diving system.
Official source
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