''Ictineu 3'' is a manned

submersible A submersible is a small watercraft designed to operate underwater. The term "submersible" is often used to differentiate from other underwater vessels known as submarines, in that a submarine is a fully self-sufficient craft, capable of i ...

capable of reaching depths of 1,200 m (3,900 ft), which makes it the ninth deepest

, owned by ''Ictineu submarins SL''. Commissioned in 2013, the submersible can carry one pilot and two passengers during 10 hours using all the equipment. The small weight and dimensions of the submarine (4.8 x 1.9 x 3 m) allow the Ictineu 3 to be carried with a conventional

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructi ...

without requiring special transportation. The main body is made of inox steel and, at the front, there is a large semi-spheric

acrylic glass Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) belongs to a group of materials called engineering plastics. It is a transparent thermoplastic. PMMA is also known as acrylic, acrylic glass, as well as by the trade names and brands Crylux, Plexiglas, Acrylite ...

viewport of 1,200 mm diameter that provides a wide field of view. There are four brushless DC motors for propulsion and four more for manoeuvring, powered by

li-ion batteries A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery which uses the reversible reduction of lithium ions to store energy. It is the predominant battery type used in portable consumer electronics and electric vehicles. It also see ...

located outside the submersible for safety. Its applications range from submarine

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...

to industrial work, and it is specially designed to be easy to adapt it to new technology and equipment, having additional ports for wires, sensors and tools. It can also be equipped with a couple of

robotic arm A robotic arm is a type of mechanical arm, usually programmable, with similar functions to a human arm; the arm may be the sum total of the mechanism or may be part of a more complex robot. The links of such a manipulator are connected by join ...

s with seven degrees of freedom to interact with the external environment. Ictineu 3 was finished in 2013 after 10 years of development and a 3 M€ budget acquired from crowdfunding, public subsidies and private investors. The name ''Ictineu 3'' pays tribute to the submarines Ictineo I and Ictineo II, developed by the Catalan submarine pioneer

Narcís Monturiol Narcís Monturiol i Estarriol (; Narciso Monturiol Estarriol, in Spanish, 28 September 1819 – 6 September 1885) was a Spanish inventor, artist and engineer born in Figueres, Catalonia, Spain. He was the inventor of the first air-independent an ...

during the 19th century.

Project

The project was originally pitched by the ''Associació Institut Centre Català de Recerca Submarina'' and registered in February 2006. The submersible was designed and built by ''Ictineu Submarins S.L.'' under the direction of engineers Pere Fornès and Carme Paradera. The construction began in a workshop provided by the

Maritime Museum of Barcelona The Maritime Museum of Barcelona ( ca, Museu Marítim de Barcelona, MMB) is located in the building of '' Drassanes Reials de Barcelona'', the royal arsenal of Barcelona, dedicated to shipbuilding between the thirteenth century and eighteenth ce ...

but was later moved to dedicated facilities acquired by the company in

Sant Feliu de Llobregat Sant Feliu de Llobregat () is an industrial city and municipality in Catalonia, Spain, in the province of Barcelona. It is the capital of the comarca of Baix Llobregat, and the see of a bishopric since June 2005. Geography Sant Feliu is situated ...

. Germanischer Lloyd SE provided the necessary certification upon completion. The whole project was widely promoted and relied on crowdfunding in order to reach the necessary goals. The starting petition was of €60,000 and the money was collected via Verkami.

References

External links

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The Ictineu 3 project: a modern manned submersible for scientific research and intervention
{{authority control Deep-submergence vehicles Bathyscaphes Ships built in Spain Submarines of Spain

Project

See also

References

External links