Kevin Hardy, VP
DeepSea Power & Light
San Diego, CA
Undersea lighting continues to follow the rapid development of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) for general commercial illumination. LEDs have made substantial headway in their adaptation to undersea vehicles given to their light generation characteristics, efficiency and durability. In addition to improvements in LED technology, electronic drivers have become simpler and increasingly efficient, providing options to end-users for thermal roll-back, dimming, AC/DC, or variable voltage input with constant current output. DSPL engineers have devised ways to pressure compensate both the LEDs and the driver electronics, successfully testing LED arrays and drivers to 20,000psi. New light system configurations are emerging for diver, manned submersible, and
unmanned vehicle applications.
This presentation will discuss differences with and advantages over gas discharge lamps, advances in High Brightness LED lighting systems, in-house validation testing methods, and suggest where ongoing developments will take us next. Recent at-sea experience by manned and unmanned vehicles will be shown.
Kevin Hardy is VP Marketing and Technology Assessment at DeepSea Power & Light, which he joined in 2007 after a career of 34 years at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. He is a Fellow and currently VP-Sections of the Marine Technology Society. He was awarded the Society of Manufacturing Engineers Presidents Award in December 2008, by Dr. Neil Duffie, President, SME, Dearborn, MI.