The 2023 accident of the submersible Titan occurred during a dive into the international waters of the North Atlantic Ocean off Newfoundland, Canada. The Titan is a small submersible for tourism purposes, operated by OceanGate and intended particularly to ensure paid visits to the wreck of the Titanic. On June 18, 2023, it began a descent towards the wreckage during which it suffered an implosion (means, exploded from outside pressure) resulting in its destruction and the death of its five occupants. Debris of various sizes was found at a depth of 3,800 m, not far from the wreck of the Titanic.
OceanGate Inc is a tourism company based in Washington, USA. The company was founded by Stockton Rush and Guillermo Söhnlein. The company operates manned small submarines for industry, media, tourism and research. Especially for great depths, the company develops its boats. Richard Stockton was killed along with four others aboard OceanGate’s submersible Titan. Guillermo Söhnlein left the company in 2013, retaining a minority stake. Rush graduated from Princeton with a degree in aerospace engineering. Rush conducted more than a dozen underwater expeditions since 2010. The pressure vessel had been built in coordination with Boeing, NASA and the University of Washington.
Still, Titan was more towards DIY production (by a company) than commercial-grade production. The controller used was Logitech F710 wireless gamepad. In the year 2018, a lawsuit was filed by a former employee who claimed that the company did not do enough to address quality control and safety issues relating to Titan.
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Wait, Logitech F710 Wireless Gamepad Was Used From Arduino Projects?
Yes. They thought that Logitech F710 wireless Gamepad was a good choice. This particular model has working libraries in C++:
1 2 | https://github.com/ShindeShubhamm/Logitech-F710-wireless-gamepad-interfacing-with-Arduino https://gist.github.com/IdrisCytron/434d56965c182b64075eb2eaaa90d3b8#file-makeruno_logitechf710-ino |
We do not know what microcontrollers and computers Titan used.
Was Not Their NASA, Boeing and a University?
In 2021 there was a court filing, OceanGate said that a hull monitoring system built into the Titan delivers “an unparalleled safety feature.” Also, they claimed that they have undergone more than fifty test dives with a five-inch-thick carbon fibre wall and titanium hull.
The company issued a $5 million contract to the University of Washington (Applied Physics Laboratory). But the University of Washington denied the fact that they have dealt with the design or engineering of the Titan’s vessel. The lab only helped them to build a thing for lower-depth water. Spencer Composites was commissioned by OceanGate to develop a submarine with a maximum diving depth of 4000 meters.
What Were the Technologies Used by Titan?
The middle part consisted of a cylindrical space made of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic, the wall thickness was 5 inches (800 layers). Two pieces made of titanium closed the cylindrical space via fitting rings made of titanium. There was a 15-inch diameter plexiglass window in a funnel-shaped metal part.
There were electric motors, ballast tanks and the release of output weights. Four propellers propelled the boat.
The submersible had a length of 6.70 meters, was about 1.42 meters inner wide, 2.50 meters high and weighed near 10,000 KG. The submersible is said to be able to reach depths of up to 4000 meters and could accommodate five people.
It had no own navigation system. The communication technology was acoustic underwater telephony (short text messages converted into acoustic signals). Logitech G F710 was used to control the Titan. There was a simple on-board toilet.
In the year 2022, journalist David Pogue rode to visit the Titanic’s spot, he noted that there was no emergency locator beacon and his experience was the surface support vessel lost track of the Titan for about five hours.
Why it Imploded?
It was an experimental, kind of DIY project. The depth of the Titanic wreck site is about half of Mount Everest. 12,500 feet is too deep. Military submarines do not travel so deep.
It is a fact that it successfully travelled many times which proves that the mechanical parts and walls are closer to the specification which can be called “safe”. But after travelling a few times probably it required servicing and upgradation of the system. The submarine required to be larger, robust and have a navigation system.
James Cameron criticized the choice of carbon fibre composite material for the pressure vessel.
