THE SEA TRIAL OF “KAIKO”, THE FULL OCEAN DEPTH RESEARCH ROV

Masanori KYO, Eigo MIYAZAKI, Satoshi TSUKIOKA, Hiroshi OCHI,

Yasutaka AMITANI, Toshio TSUCHIYA, Taro AOKI, and Shinichi TAKAGAWA
Japan Marine Science and Technology Center, Deep Sea Technology Dept.
2- 15 Natsushima-cho, Yokosuka, Kanagawa237Japan

Abstract - Japan Marine Science & Technology
center(JAMSTEC) developed a full ocean depth
research ROV(remote1y operated vehicle), “KAIKO”,
whose construction started in January,1991, and whose
sea trial was carried out from May, 1993to March, 1995.
The sea trial had three separated phases, that is,
the first test at 1,000m deep ocean near the main land
of Japan, the second test at Nansei Shoto Trench of
6,500m deep, and the final test at Mariana Trench in
order to confirm the capability of the system at the
deepest ocean bottom on earth. The original plan for
the final sea trial had been scheduled in July, 1993,
however, it was delayed by some troubles. The main
trouble was on the data transmission through a
secondary cable between a launcher and a vehicle of
“KAIKO”.
results suggested us the strong necessity of the study
on the deeper area as well as the research at 6,500m
deep. JAMSTEC came to the decision to develop a new
ROV which can cover the entire bottom of the ocean
and named it “KAIKO” (it means trench). We started
its construction in January, 1991.
“KAIKO’ has two main survey missions. The first
mission is to survey the sea bottom up to 6,500111deep
by towing this system for pre-survey of “SHINAKAI
6500” diving. In this mission, the sea bottom topography
and the stratum beneath the sea bottom are precisely
surveyed by using a side scan sonar and a sub bottom
profiler both installed into the launcher, and a visual
Support vessel “YOKOSUKA”
I . 3, , Control room

After clearing up all causes of the troubles, we

carried out the sea trial again at Mariarna Trench in
March, 1995, and succeeded in the deepest challenge.
This paper described the feature of “KAIKO’ and
the result of the sea trial. Primary cable handling device
I

INTRODUCTION

JAMSTEC has been synthetically advancing the

scientific research of the deep-sea bottom by using two
deep-sea manned submersible, “SHINKAI 2000” with
2,OOOm depth diving capability, “SHINKAI 6500” with
6,500m depth diving capability, and a deep-sea ROV Secondary cable
“DOLPHIN 3K” with 3,300m depth diving capability.
Due to recent improvements of deep-sea survey
techniques using the above tools, many interesting
phenomenon have been found on the deep-sea bottom,
including hydrothermal vents, communities not relied
on photosynthesis, new crustal plates and so on. These Fig.1 “KAIKO” system

1991
 observation is done by TV cameras installed into the
vehicle which swims freely behind the launcher. The
other mission is to survey the sea bottom up to the full
ocean depth where “SHINKAI 6500” can not reach
itself. In this mission, the launcher is not towed but hung
down to nearly lOOm above the sea bottom for a
platform of the vehicle. The vehicle moves freely around
the launcher within 200m radius and carries out the
precise survey by using TV cameras and manipulators.
“KAIKO” SYSTEM
“KAIKO” system, as shown in Fig. 1, consists of a
control room, a primary cable handling device, a launch/
recovery gear, a primary cable, the launcher, the
secondary cable and the vehicle.
All the system is installed in and carried by a
support vessel “YOKOSUKA”, which also carries
“SHINKAI 6500”.
The control room locates in the aft-wheelhouseof
“YOKOSUKA”. While the launcher and the vehicle
are in the water, all control, operation and monitor can
be done from this room.
(l)CTD, (2)Side scan sonar, (3-1)Sub bottom profiler
receiver, (3-2)Sub bottom profiler transmitter, (4)LBL
receiver, (5)SSBL receivers, (@Responder, (7)Obstacle
avoidance sonar, (8- 1)Altitude sonar receiver, (8-2)Altitude
sonar transmitter, (9)Gyrocompass, ( 1 0)RoWpitch meter,
( 1 l)Winch, ( 1 2)Sheave, (1 3)Mating equipment, (1 4)TV
camera, (1 5)Power supply unit, ( 1 6)Hydraulic pump unit,
(17)Valve unit, (18)Primary cable, (19)Distributor &
Transformer
Fig.2 Launcher
1992
The primary cable handling device consists of a
cable store winch, a traction winch, and a heave
compensator. The cable store winch has the capability
to wind up the primary cable of 12,000m in length,
in diameter. The traction winch can wind the
primary cable at the maximum speed of 75 d m i n . The
heave compensator is a passive controlled ram tensioner
with 2,200” stroke to compensate the pitching and
heaving motion of the support vessel.
The launchhecovery gear, which consists of a
gimbal sheave and a mating gear hung by two steel wires
with a winch, holds all the weight of the launcher and
the vehicle while they are in the air and goes down up
to 5m deep from the surface.
The launcher, as shown in Fig.2, mainly has
observation devices, navigation devices, and secondary
cable handling devices. Observation devices consist of
a CTD,a side scan sonar, and a sub bottom profiler.
(1)Power supply unit, (2)Hydraulic pump unit,
(3)Broadcastingclass color TV camera with padtilt device,
(4)Color TV cameras with pan device, (5)Monochrome TV
camera, (6)35mm still camera with padtilt device,
(7)Manipulator,(8)Horizontal thrusters,(9)Vertical thrusters,
(10)Obstacle avoidance sonar, ( 1 1)Altitude meter,
( 12)Gyrocompas, ( 13)Depth meter, ( 14)Roll/pich meter,
(1 5)Responder, (16)Sample basket, (17)Oil cooler,
( 1 8)Buyancy material, (19)Motor, (20)Valve unit,
(21)Secondary cable, (22)Distributor & Transformer
Propulsion
I Speed I2knots I
Fig.3 Vehicle
Navigation devices, which are used for an acoustic
navigation and a motion control, consist of a LBL(Long
Base Line) receiver, SSBL(Super Short Base Line)
receivers, a responder, an obstacle avoidance sonar, an
altitude sonar, a depth meter, a gyrocompass and a roll/
pitch meter. Secondary cable handling devices, by
which the launcher can hold, launch, and recover the
vehicle, consists of a winch, a sheave, a mating
equipment and TV camera system for watching the
vehicle position. Besides, a power supply unit and a
hydraulic pump unit is equipped to activate each
devices.
The vehicle, which can swim freely around the
launcher to observe the exact image of the sea bottom
by TV cameras and to collect samples from the sea
bottom by manipulators, consists of observation
devices, navigation devices, a power supply unit, and a
hydraulic pump unit. Fig.3 shows the schematicdiagram
of the vehicle. Observation devices include a
broadcasting class color TV camera with padtilt device,
three color TV cameras with pan device, a monochrome
--
Primarv cable
Secondarv cable
(I)Conductor, (2)Optical fiber unit, (3)Tension member
Primary cable Secondary cable
Optical fiber / electric power complexed cab
Multi mode
Length 12000m
Fig.4 Cables
TV camera, a 35” still camera with padtilt device,
lights for these cameras, and a pair of manipulators with
seven degrees of freedom. Navigation devices include
four horizontal thrusters, three vertical thrusters, an
obstacle avoidance sonar, an altitude meter, a
gyrocompass, a depth meter, a roll/pitch meter, and a
responder.
Both the primary cable and the secondary cable,
as shown in Fig.4, are complexed type cables of optical
fiber and electric power supply line. The dimension of
the primary cable is 12,000m in length and @44mmin
diameter, and the dimension of the secondary cable is
25Om in length and $28” in diameter. 3,OOOV/6OHz
three phase alternating current transmits through three
conductors of both cables. The optical fiber unit of the
primary cable has four single mode fibers, and the
secondary cable has four multi mode fibers. The
material of the tension member is Kevlar. Using these
optical fibers, large capacity data included as the visual
information by TV cameras can be transmitted at the
high speed data rate of 1.26 Gbps.
OPERATION FLOW
The basic operation of the “KAIKO’ system is the
following.
The support vessel “YOKOSUKA” carries both
“KAIKO and “SHINKAI 6500” in the hangar. For pre-
survey, a multi narrow beam echo sounder(MNBES)
equipped into “YOKOSUKA” measures the contour
map of the sea bottom to decide the exact diving point.
Then, transponders are set on the sea bottom for the
acoustic navigation.
While operating “KAIKO”, “SHINKAI 6500”
slides to sideways in the hangar. A trolley, on which
the launcher combined with the vehicle and launch/
recovery gear are set, is drawn aftward to the stem, while
dragging the primary cable connected to the back of
the launcher.
The A-frame crane suspends the launchhecovery
gear to connect electric control lines and hydraulic lines,
and suspends the launcher, which holds the vehicle
under its body, with two steel wires driven by the winch,
after connecting the mating gear to “KAIKO. The A-
1993

Fig.5 ”KAIKO1before launching
frame crane swings aftward, as shown in Fig.5, and the
hanging wires is paid out slowly with their own heave
compensators until “ K A I K O comes down to about 5
m deep. At this depth, the load suspending “KAIKO
moves from the wires to the primary cable and the
mating gear is hydraulically released. The electricity is
supplied to activate “KAIKO and the whole “KAIKO’
system is controlled from the control room.
The primary cable can be paid out and wound up
at the maximum speed of 75m/min; “KAIKO’ can
descend and ascend up to 1 1,000m in about 3 hours.
During “KAIKO” descending, the captain operates the
support vessel by following the acoustic navigation data
to lead “KAIKO” to the exact point.
When “KAIKO’ arrives at about lOOm above the
sea bottom, the launcher releases the vehicle. The
vehicle approaches to the sea bottom by its own thrusters
while the launcher pays out the secondary cable. The
position of the launcher is measured by LBL system
installed in the launcher, and is also measured by LBL
system and SSBL system installed in the support vessel.
1994
The position of the vehicle is measured by SSBL system
installed in the launcher. The length of the secondary
cable is automatically adjusted from the position data
between the launcher and the vehicle measured by
SSBL system of the launcher.
The vehicle can move freely to all directionsaround
the launcher with the combination of seven thrusters,
and the TV cameras and the manipulators in the vehicle
make the precise survey.
When the survey has been over, the secondary cable
is automatically wound up maintaining a moderate
length and takes the vehicle to the launcher. The TV
cameras of the launcher carefully watch the position of
the vehicle. Then, “KAIKO goes up to the surface by
winding up the primary cable. When “KAIKO” arrives
at the 5-meters-point f ” the surface, the primary cable
stops to wind, and the mating gear hung by the steel
wires comes down to “KAIKO. The A-frame crane
suspends “KAIKO and put it on the trolley. Now, the
trolley with ”KAIKO” is drawn forward to the proper
position in the hangar.
SEA TRIAL
We separated the “KAIKO” sea trials into three
phases according to the diving depth. The first phase
was at 1,OOOm deep Ocean near the main land of Japan.
The second phase was at Nansei Shoto Trench of
6,500m deep. The final phase was at Mariana Trench
which is the deepest point on earth.
We first planned the sea trial between May of 1993
to July, however we had to allow some delay owing to
many unexpected troubles. After removing all causes
of the troubles, and at long last, we could succeeded in
reaching to Mariana Trench.
Here, we describe some main troubles and success
of the final test.
(1 ) The first phase of the sea trial
The first phase of the sea trial started on May 21 st,
1993 in order to confirm the functional capability of
each sub systems, such as launching, recovering,
handling the cables, acoustic navigating, motion
controlling, data transmitting and so on.
 On June loth, 1993, which is the final stage of the
first phase, when we tested the automatic control to keep
the length of the secondary cable constantly and the
automatic control to keep the relative position of the
vehicle to the launcher in the 1,300m deep area, TV
camera of the launcher found that the secondary cable
had clung to the launcher. So the tests were stopped
immediately, and the primary cable was wound up
slowly while ascending the vehicle by its thrusters. After
the launcher and the vehicle came up to the surface
respectively, the clung secondary cable was released
from the launcher by the crew of the support vessel.
Next the primary cable was paid out in order to bring
down the launcher and the vehicle again. Finally, we
managed to take the launcher back by its own thrusters,
and we set back “KAIKO”under the normal operation
procedure.
The secondary cable and the stabilizing fin of the
launcher suffered some major damages from the
accident; also this anomalous operation caused the
heave compensator malfunction and damaged the
primary cable. Besides, when the launcher launched
again to mate with the vehicle, the gyrocompass of the
launcher failed down by the shock of a big wave in a
rough sea condition.
We inquired the causes of the accident, and found
that the length of the secondary cable paid out was not
right. So, the automatic control system of paying out
the secondary cable was improved, and an additional
TV camera was installed in the launcher in order to
watch the secondary cable carefully. After repairing the
damaged parts including the cables, the stabilizing fin
and the gyrocompass, we finally succeeded in the sea
trial at 1,000m deep ocean. The second phase of the
trial was postponed until January and the final phase
until February, 1994, when “YOKOSUKA” used for
“SHINKAI 6500” diving would be available.
c
(2) The first challenge for Mariana Trench
On lbarch lst, 1994, the final sea trial was carried
out at the Challenger Deep at Mariana Trench. The
launcher holding the vehicle was lowered down to
10,800m deep, and the vehicle started swimming after
leaving the launcher. The vehicle moved above the sea
bottom with the altitude of 2m. Although the depth
meter of the vehicle showed 10,90lm, the depth data
corrected by the data of temperature and salinity
distribution showed 10,909m.
After the vehicle cruised for about half an hour,
when the vehicle was approaching right below the
launcher, the data transmission was suddenly blacked
out. It seemed nothing was wrong with the launcher or
the electricity supply; the light and the thrusters were
still working. So, the vehicle was drawn toward the
launcher and was mated with the launcher by pulling
the secondary cable. Then the mated launcher and the
vehicle were drawn toward the surface by winding up
the primary cable. When “KAIKO” was recovered on
the deck of the support vessel, the data transmission
system had already become alive spontaneously.
It took very long time and great efforts to
investigate the cause of the trouble, and finally it was
solved. The main cause of the data transmission black-
out was found to be the micro-bending of the optical
fibers. The volume of the sea water introduced into the
Kevlar braided layer for the pressure compensation was
too little, so that the secondary cable lost its flexibility
to have the micro-bending.
The new secondary cable was improved to fill up
the Kevlar braided layer with gel for the pressure
compensation in stead of the sea water while its
manufacturing.
Another trouble, by the first and the deepest diving
for “KAIKO”, was the minute cracks of the buoyancy
material. These cracks spreaded not only on the surface,
but also in the middle position of the block. AS the
buoyancy material, we use a syntactic foam, whose
density is 0.63g/cm3, and whose collapse pressure is
more than 1,700 kgf/cm2.The further survey showed
that these cracks was not due to the collapse of the
material, but the separation of the adhesive boundary
against very high and cyclic pressurization. So, more
elastic adhesive were selected to bond each block while
manufacturing new buoyancy material.
After some other repairs and modifications were
done to improve the “KAIKO” system, the re-challenge
for Mariana Trench was carried out in March, 1995.
1995
 (3) Re-challenge for Mariana Trench
On March 24th, 1995, we finally came back to the
deepest sea bottom on earth, Mariana Trench. It took
almost one year since the last. For the sea condition on
that day, the swell was 2m high and the sea state was 2
or 3.
“KAIKO’ on the trolley was drawn aftward to the
stem at 7:20 am,(lOcal time), and was launched at 755
am.. During the early trials, it had taken more than 2
hours for launching operation. This time reduction was
a big progress.
After supplying 3,OOOV to check all the parts of
the system in the shallow water, the launcher holding
the vehicle inside its body descended directly and
accurately to the deepest point, 1 I022.400’N. and
142’35.550’E.. m e a s u r e d b y MNBES o f
“YOKQSUK A”.
At 10:58am., the launcher arrived at the 10,803m
deep, that was about lOOm above the sea bottom. After
some checks, the vehicle left the launcher to descend
toward the sea bottom. The length of the secondary
cable was adjusted properly against the relative position
between the launcher and the vehicle. Then, finally, the
vehicle reached to the deepest point on Challenger Deep
of Mariana Trench. The sea bottom was covered with
Fig.6 Picture at Mariana Trench
1996
light yellow colored silt. The depth meter corrected with
the data of the temperature and the salinity distribution
showed 10,911.4m. The location of the touch down
point was at 1 1’22.394”. and 142O35.541 ’E..
On the sea bottom, the vehicle took out the marker
plate, on which it was written “KAIKO 1995.3.24”,
from the sample basket to place it for this memorial
day, and also set the bait of the fish to draw the living
organisms in the deepest ocean. These are shown in
Fig.6.
Then, the vehicle cruised maintaining the altitude
of 50cm. While circling in the course of 50m radius,
we observed a kind of swarm, which was white and a
few centimeters long, was floating with twisting its
body.
While approaching the point where the marker was
set, the obstacle avoidance sonar detected a strong
signal, that was from the marker which had been set
last year. This indicated that we came to just the same
point as last year, and proved the high accuracy of the
acoustic navigation system, even at 11,000m deep.
Before ascending to mate with the launcher, TV camera
took some organisms near the bait. According to a
biologist, these organisms are suspected to be a kind of
amphipodous. These organisms are shown in Fig,6 by
white mows.
After having a good crop, the vehicle mated with
the launcher at 12:09pm., and “KAIKO was recovered
on board at 15:29pm. without accident.
CONCLUSION
After the construction of “KAIKO” was completed,
the pilot crew of JAMSTEC will train the operations
until Feburary, 1996. ”KAIKO” succeeded in the sea
trial at the deepest sea bottom on earth, Mariana Trench,
however, for more reliability and more efficiency, we
continue the development of ‘‘KAIKO”to improve it.
We think that this full Ocean depth research ROV,
“KAIKO” is not only for Japanese, but also researchers
of all over the world, and we hope that international
cooperation in this field will be encouraged with this
new ROV.