Underwater welding with your eyes closed

摘要

Until now a diver-welder has had to take into consideration countless factors such as travel speed, electrode angle, arc length and accurate deposition in order to produce high quality welds, all of which are dependent on so many different parameters in medium to good visibility. However, the Hammerhead wet welding system, which can be used both above and underwater (and was recently awarded the UK's Department of Trade and Industry's SMART Award) is said to allow for high-quality repeatable welds to be produced in near zero visibility. This is accomplished by automating as many aspects of the welding process as possible in an effort to minimise the burden placed on the diver, who only has to press the electrode on to the surface of the material to produce a weld.