4. Test equipment

The process of developing a new recovery system concept generally involves three main stages. The first is a preliminary evaluation stage. In good practice, this is based on mathematical and numerical modeling, and gives an idea of the machine's potential. If the results are encouraging, scale-model tests are carried out to validate the theoretical predictions. Finally, if this milestone is also successful, the last stage consists of sea trials of a full-scale prototype.

The remainder of this article describes the test equipment to be used in this second and third stage.