Into the Labyrinth: The Making of a Modern-Day Theseus

Into the Labyrinth: The Making of a Modern-Day Theseus

by Bruce Butler

Narrated by Bruce Butler

Unabridged — 14 hours, 3 minutes

Into the Labyrinth: The Making of a Modern-Day Theseus

Into the Labyrinth: The Making of a Modern-Day Theseus

by Bruce Butler

Narrated by Bruce Butler

Unabridged — 14 hours, 3 minutes

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Overview

Project Spinnaker was joint Canada-US defence research project conceived in the waning days of the Cold War. Spinnaker's secret purpose was to reassert Canada's Arctic sovereignty by providing the capability to monitor submarine traffic in Canada's Arctic waters. The star of Project Spinnaker was Theseus, a massive Canadian-made autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) designed for a single purpose: laying fibre-optic cable in ice-covered waters.

More than 2,500 years after the mythical Greek hero Theseus ventured into the labyrinth on the island of Crete to slay the Minotaur, the robotic submarine Theseus was launched into an undersea labyrinth with a strikingly similar goal: lay 200 kilometres of cable on the seafloor of Canada's Arctic, then turn around and follow it back out.

With a foreword by Dr. James R. McFarlane, OC, CD, P.Eng., FCAE (President and Founder of International Submarine Engineering Ltd.) and endorsements by several marine experts, Into the Labyrinth provides a fascinating glimpse into the subsea industry of the 1980s and `90s, set against the backdrop of Canada's beautiful yet hostile High Arctic.


Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Anthony Dalton, FRGS, FRCGS, author of BAYCHIMO, Arctic Ghost Ship

Science, technology, adventure and the Arctic: a potent cocktail poured around one man’s explorations as part of a team in the far north. Bruce Butler writes with the clarity of an educated mind and the passion of an explorer -- and he writes for a general audience. The Arctic has many moods and expressions. Bruce experiences them with an appealing mix of humility, excitement and grit. This is a book for anyone interested in the past, present and future of Canada’s Arctic.

Neil Bose, Vice President (Research), Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada

Into the Labyrinth is a very readable account of the Theseus project because it brings in a personal element from the point of view of the author, the personalities of his International Submarine Engineering colleagues and those in other organisations leading and collaborating with the project.

D. Richard Blidberg, Director, Autonomous Undersea Systems Institute

The world of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) has evolved over the past 40 years; from the first prototype systems being developed in the academic community to a full fledged commercial market which continues to grow very quickly. This book takes a step back to the early stages of commercial involvement with AUV systems. It gives perspective of one development program that helped forge a new market place for autonomous unmanned systems. The author was involved in one of the earlier programs to apply AUV technology to address an ambitious mission to be undertaken in a very challenging environment; under the Arctic ice cap. This book could have resulted in a rather dry description of the trials and tribulations of early development efforts. Instead the author was able to give the book an entertaining personality while describing the technical process of bringing new technology to bear on an important mission of the future; to autonomously deploy a cable under the Arctic ice cap for hundreds of kilometers. Bruce Butler has produced a book that reminds us all of the innovation, excitement, and frustrations associated with the systems development process. It was not only fun to read but also quite informative. It reminded me of the how the Arctic environment can add challenge to any system design. I would encourage anyone who has been or would like to be involved with this fascinating technology to read about story of the development of the Theseus AUV.

Phil Nuytten, Founder and President of Nuytco Research Ltd.

This is the true story of one of International Submarine Engineering’s major projects. Butler was fortunate to be a part of a great development team that imagined an incredible ultra-hi-tech deepsea device and then brought it to reality. In this book, he generously shares his good fortune with us and allows us to travel with him on his exciting journey. I have been in the subsea industry for all of my adult life and I can tell you that it’s a great read and the author is the real deal.

Product Details

BN ID: 2940178870907
Publisher: Bigfoot Press
Publication date: 11/01/2019
Edition description: Unabridged
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