Fig. 5
(a) Schematic illustrating the mining pattern maneuver. The collector drove consecutive parallel straight lines \(L\simeq\) 60m, during which the collector’s pumps were operated and the polymetallic nodules collected. At the end of L (in green), the collector was re-positioned by driving in a curve, CI (in orange), to begin the turning maneuver. (b) Illustration of the turning maneuver. After the entry maneuver CI, the nodules were deposited at the end of the reverse driving segment R (in red), followed by the collector outwardly driving in a curve, CO (in brown), to the location where the next line segment L begins.
