1. Development of Deep NINJA
Nobie Shikama (JAMSTEC) & TSK
Abstract
JAMSTEC has been developing a deep NINJA in cooperation with TSK. This float consists of oil tank, pump and 50 cm3- cylinder,
3-way-valve, piston and 500 cm3- cylinder, motor and brake. Repeated motions of pump and 3-way-valve produce a maximum buoyancy of 500 cm3 . Laboratory tests using a high pressure tank showed that the buoyancy control system worked well at 3,500db. Field tests have not been made yet.
TSK: Tsurumi-Seiki Co. LTD

2. Block diagram Gear Oil tank Motor Pump Pump Brake 500 cm3 cylinder Oil
Weight 39 kg,
length 140 cm
Pump
Pump
Brake
500 cm3 cylinder
Oil
3- way-valve
50 cm3
cylinder
500 cm3 Cylinder
Piston

3. Buoyancy control was tested in a high pressure tank
G.L.
Monitoring
window
tank
float
Video camera
Upward motion of float was monitored by video camera as piston was pushed out
at 3,000db.

4. Summary
Buoyancy control system worked well at 3,000db when the whole float was tested inside the high pressure tank.
Only the part of 500-cm3- cylinder and piston was put inside the high pressure tank and confirmed to work well up to 3,500db.
Buoyancy control ability is about 500 cm3 and float needs extra buoyancy produced by a syntactic foam collar when it is tested in the real ocean.

5. Dear Argonauts,
I am retiring from JAMSTEC and leaving Argo community at the end of March 2009.
I feel very happy having worked with you all in this revolutionary age of global ocean monitoring.
Thank you all, and farewell.
Bon voyage, Argo.
Nobie