Development of the Auguste Piccard Manipulator Corer

The Auguste Piccard submarine is a deep submergence vehicle operating as a survey vessel and geophysical exploration tool at ABS certified depth of 2200 feet. She is owned and operated by Horton Maritime Explorations Ltd. of North Vancouver, B.C. It was felt in 1977 that although the data currently acquired through indirect geophysical measuring techniques was highly acceptable, the additional capability of extracting soil or rock samples from precisely identified locations would considerably enhance the submarines marketability. With this objective in mind, Horton Maritime Explorations Ltd. retained the author as a consultant design engineer to carry out the necessary research and development work and produce a work tool to be attached to the Auguste Piccard exostrucure capable of extracting sub-sea cores.