Independent vehicles can descend to the depths of the Mariana Trench, but it is a more difficult engineering solution for ROV's. Woods Hole Oceanographic sent a hydrid vehicle (can operate completely independent or with a fiber optic cable for communication) to the bottom of the trench a few years ago - the Nereus.
Sending a manned vehicle down to that depth is a huge engineering feat and shows the determination to design and build a vehicle that can withstand the environment and sustain human life at the same time.
ROV's have a limitation with the power cable that controls their maneuvering, the length of the cable (over 8,000 meters) becomes an excessive force on the winch assembly. At times the weight of the cable can be more than it's rated load, without the vehicle at the bitter end.
Glenn, ROVs are not usually engineered to dive anywhere near this deep--7 miles--because of the incredible pressure. From what I've seen, most of them can descend a few thousand meters.
Could an ROV have done the same exploration ? Deep sea exploration, while very expensive, is still not as costly as space exploration. There are some deep-diving submarines available to wealthy and determined persons. Will Sir Richard Branson eventually branch out from Space Ship 2 to deep sea 'flights' ?
It's amazing the range of James Cameron's interests and skills. Not only is he a brilliant film director, but he's really been a pioneer of science, technology, and engineering, particularly as it relates to ocean expedition. There's so much to be gained from this work, and the lessons around engineering will find their way into numerous industries and applications--of that, I have no doubt.
For 3D printing to make the jump from rapid prototyping to manufacturing, engineers will need to find easier ways to move products from their CAD screens to their printers.
Gigabit and PoE are two networking technologies moving ahead in tandem as industrial users power remote Ethernet devices such as IP security cameras at 1,000 Mbps over existing CAT5 cable.
New versions of BASF's Ecovio line are both compostable and designed for either injection molding or thermoforming. These combinations are becoming more common for the single-use bioplastics used in food service and food packaging applications, but are still not widely available.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
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I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
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