Abstract: The attitude of a submerged array of sensing elements can be changed using a fixed quantity of transferable ballast fluid having density different than water. In one embodiment, a non-rigid array of sensor elements is equipped with two expandable reservoirs connected between a flexible conduit which allows the ballast fluid to be transferred back and forth. Pumping fluid between the two reservoirs causes one reservoir to expand while the other contracts. Due to the density difference between the pumped fluid and water, the difference in volume between the two expandable reservoirs causes a shift in the center of buoyancy of the array system. The center of buoyancy in this way becomes offset from the center of gravity of the array system, causing a shift in the attitude of the array.

Abstract: The invention provides a means by which the attitude or orientation of a submerged object can be changed or altered using a fixed quantity of transferable ballast fluid which has a density less than that of the surrounding fluid in which the object is submerged. In one embodiment, the process utilizes a static negatively buoyant material (which could be a lead weight) to offset the net negative buoyancy of the transferable ballast fluid. In this way, the total overall buoyancy of the system does not change, but by transferring ballast fluid into expandable reservoirs which are physically separated from the static negatively buoyant material, the separation between the center of buoyancy and the center of mass of the object can be changed, and thus the attitude or orientation of the object, if it is unrestrained, may be changed.

Abstract: A cable brake system for deployments of cable comprising: a frame configured to be mounted on a ship; a repeater supporting track mounted longitudinally to the frame, the supporting track being configured for slidingly supporting a plurality of repeaters; a spool positioned exterior to the frame, the spool having the cable wrapped therearound and being capable of supplying the cable to an interior of the frame; at least one planar surface on an interior of the frame, the planar surface being positioned approximately parallel to the repeater supporting track; and a plurality of brake sub-assemblies being supported by the planar surface in a manner so as to establish a serpentine path for the cable and to impart variable frictional resistance to the cable.