AtmosDiver Hardsuits
Anyango loved it. He was over an hour into the job and his AtmosDiver Mk. XI hardsuit was working perfectly. The Manta II floated above them all as they staked out the site, setting tup the transponder rods and deployed the sensor array that was going to auto-map everythign once they were done. The Mk. XI wasn't the latest model, but it wa sperfect for the job at hand. The HUD fed him a constant data stream while the autosensors monitored the depth and time, keeping the rebreather apparatus feeding him the right breahting mixture to keep him from getting too fatigued. Working on antecessor sites was always wild, between the NDA and legal documentation and top secret mission type planning, but the money was better than any other job and who was he to argue with his archaeology degree opening up this line of work? A school of strange lookign fish flicked past, one pausing to nibble on the polymer coated titanium mesh tha tmade up the first layer of the exterior of the suit. It didn't like the taste and moved off. Anyango's lights caught a glinton the ground, and he froze. "Manta II, this is Diver 4, I have a loose artfact on the substrate, requesting collection pod." His words were exiting his mouth into the mic as he used the retina tracker to select "camera" and "provenience". The dive just got that much more interesting as he began the process of documenting the substrate find. "Roger Diver 4," he heard Lei respond, "Collection pod incoming in figures 8 with Manta III."
Sometimes, UESE gear just isn't sufficient for the job at hand, especially if it's deep, dark, and dangerous. That's AtmosDiver's Hardsuit lineup comes in. AtmosDiver Inc. is a major UESE manufacturer who branched out over two decades ago into the hardsuit game. Atmospheric Diving Suits are an old technology concept, dating all the way back to pre-stellar Earth, but it's one that has persisted for good reason. An ADS is effectively a one person submersible, keeping the occupant at surface pressure for the entire dive, but differs in that it's a fully articulated suit with arms and legs the pilot slides theirs into, and that's propelled by water jets. Modern technology has made them even more effectvie,a nd they'r eoften partnered with submersibles that get them to the worksite, support them there, and then bring them back. Becaus eof the cost, they're most often used for industrial and commerical reasons, but the few institutions able to afford them or to hire them make good use of them too. There's some things that it's just better to have a terran doing directly as opposed to trying it through remote with an AUV or with a submersible's arms.
Sometimes, UESE gear just isn't sufficient for the job at hand, especially if it's deep, dark, and dangerous. That's AtmosDiver's Hardsuit lineup comes in. AtmosDiver Inc. is a major UESE manufacturer who branched out over two decades ago into the hardsuit game. Atmospheric Diving Suits are an old technology concept, dating all the way back to pre-stellar Earth, but it's one that has persisted for good reason. An ADS is effectively a one person submersible, keeping the occupant at surface pressure for the entire dive, but differs in that it's a fully articulated suit with arms and legs the pilot slides theirs into, and that's propelled by water jets. Modern technology has made them even more effectvie,a nd they'r eoften partnered with submersibles that get them to the worksite, support them there, and then bring them back. Becaus eof the cost, they're most often used for industrial and commerical reasons, but the few institutions able to afford them or to hire them make good use of them too. There's some things that it's just better to have a terran doing directly as opposed to trying it through remote with an AUV or with a submersible's arms.
Utility
The AtmosDiver Hardsuit series is one of the most common typs of ADS in the Tanit system. Anywhere that there's work happening at depth or that needs people to be on task for longer than UESE allows for safely, you can reliably find AtmosDiver Hardsuits. Construction, inspection, repair & recovery, deepsea and hazardous conditions undersea rescue, and mariculture are its most common uses. But it can also be found doing deepsea scientfic research, working antecessor aracheological sites, and operating film equipment for the entertainment industry. The only place it struggles is on land; only a few suits are rated for terrestrial operations, the rest require a suit docking apparatus to be mounted or dismounted from.
Manufacturing
AtmosDiver Inc. assembles all the suits in their New Mombasa factory complex. Parts are sourced from mulitple manufacturers across the planet, with assembly and forming done on site. The parts aren't particularly complex, but assembling them is. Another challenge is that thorugh the entire process, the suit has to be tested to ensure not just fit and finish, but also that it's holding up to all the rigours it's supposed to. Then, once fully assembled, each suit is tested to maximum depth (between 300m and 2300m, model dependent) with a bio-dummy inside on a strict pass or fail basis. Suits that fail have their entire assembly and construction process reviewed to determine where the issue happened and to determine whether it was assembly error or intentional sabotage.
Social Impact
Prior to AtmosDiver Inc, there were no ADS units on Tanit. The technology had largely been forgotten and their revival of it has revolutionized whole industries in addition to saving and prolonging the lives of hundreds of working divers. Jobs could be completed faster and with greater accuracy, and all it took was an investment in the technology. The suits also revolutionized military operations opening up previously hard to access areas to threats they had not previously needed to worry about.
Access & Availability
AtmosDiver suits are rare to most people as few civilians can afford their purchase, upkeep, or use. But they're common in many commercial, industrial, and even some scientific industries. The technology is closely guarded, but the software and other proprietary design aspects are patented and protected.
Complexity
An ADS is an intensely complex peice of technology and the AtmosDiver Hardsuit is no different. Space suits are easier to make. Bio-polymer muscle bundles, relay systems, the rebreather apparatus, comms gear, lights, sensors, the propulsion system, life support systems, emergency systems, ballast systems, and power pack all have to be working in perfect sync to keep the operator at peak performance, and if they aren't? That's a problem, a potentially fatal one. Learning to operate it is no easy task either, at 14 weeks in length, including 60 hours of bottom time.
Discovery
The concept is old, so old that the origin of their nickname, "Newtsuit", has been forgotten by everyone by historians with some very specific interests. The AtmosDiver brand suits combine modern proven technologies with tried and true deisign to maximize ease of maintance and practicality of manufacture. the original models were developed for industrial applications, and this use has continued into the modern era.
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