AUTONOMOUS SURFACE VESSELS FOR AIR-SEA FLUX AND SATELLITE CALIBRATION /

VALIDATION STUDIES• Phil McGillivary, USCG Icebreaker Science Liaison

philip.a.mcgillivary@uscg.mil

• Joeseph A. Curcio, Robotic Marine Systemsjacurcio@att.net

• Kevin Fall, Intel Research, Berkeleykevin.fall@intel.com

• Andy Maffei, WHOIamaffei@whoi.edu

• Kurt Schwehr, Center for Coastal Ocean Mapping, UNHkurt.schwehr@ccom.unh.edu

• Chris Kitts, Mechanical Engineering, Santa Clara Universityckitts@me.scu.edu

• Bob Twiggs, Stanford Universitybtwiggs@stanford.edu

Why a Self-Positioning Buoy?

• Eliminate cost, hassles of cable, swivels, weights, chain, etc.

• Simplify/eliminate deployment and servicing costs (ie don’t absolutely require ships)

• Reposition automatically or at will to track ‘events’ (eg spring bloom, fronts, etc.)

• Redeployable without waiting for ships to be available, no long periods without data

• Better for shallow waters, harbors, port security concerns

Why a Self-Positioning Buoy? cont’d

• US Ocean Commission and NSF Committee on Ocean Sciences at the New Millennium both call for sustained global observations

• Currently @2400+ ARGO floats, at @$30K/ea w deployment cost, @800/yr=$24 million (3 yr life)

• Lots of Homeland Security port & harbor uses• Ability to coordinate with each other and act in

‘ensemble’ (mini-Armada) precise GPS positioning mode• Cost is @half that of Navy Sonobuoys which are

considered expendable• Problems w stability, etc., can be overcome

What sorts of ASVs are out there now?

DoD/ONR 2005 contracts: 3 companies,

all DoD contractors, so…$$$

Aluminum multi-hulls, COTS, $$$: DoD

NASA Adaptive Sensor Fleet OASIS

Experimental versions: MBARI/SCU

Robo-kayak, COTS, cheap hull

Fiberglass hulls, moderately expensive

Scientific Applications and Research Associates (SARA, Inc.) DoD Gatekeeper offering w MHD power

U. Michigan Environmental Monitoring Buoy, part of joint SeaLandAire DoD Gatekeeper Buoy project

Falmouth Scientific Solar AUV technology basis for DoD Gatekeeper Buoy

Searobotics, Inc. has several types of aluminum-hulled monohulls, catamarans, and multi-hulls, including their High

Speed Trimaran shown below, endurance=hours only

Searobotics Self-righting Monohull, intended for multibeam, other detailed work, obstacle avoidance,10 hrs @2kts

Searobotics Unmanned Survey Vehicle

NASA ASF OASIS(Adaptive Sensor Fleet, Ocean Atmosphere Sensor

Integrated System)

• OASIS intended as @$50K ocean platform for sat cal/val

Monohull vs SWATH movement in seas

(from Mahacek, 2005)

MBARI / Santa Clara Univ.“WASP” SWATH ASV

Robo-kayak from Maribotics@4 month endurance, @$30K, real-time multi-vessel GPS

positioning

CTD Selection

SeaBird Electronics SBE-52

SeaBird Electronics SBE-49

• Scientific Data Priority

• Power Requirements

• Expandable, DO, Turbidity

Winch System

• 100 Meter cable

• 4 Strands

• Modified COTS Unit

• Encoder Feedback

• Level Winding System

Kayak Modifications

BetaBatteries are Tritium-based, 12.3yr ½-life; require intimate contact to work, last 12-20 years. Three sizes, one

@ same size as D cell, 25uW initially, 12uW after 12yrs

PICOSAT built by Naval AcademyPolar orbit provides 90 min return, 5-10min transmission

time

PICOSAT footprint

Delay Tolerant Networking [DTN] Wireless Protocol

• Funded by DARPA, NSA, NASA (for Interplanetary Internet)

• Backed by Intel, Microsoft, others

• Purpose: communication in noisy or interrupted environments

• Achieves increased distance and speed for wireless communications (10-20X for both)

Automatic Identification System (AIS)

• Joint federal initiative by DHS, NOAA, others (eg Navy)

• Intended to allow automated info transfer on vessels before entering port to facilitate security checks

• Didn’t initially include either buoys or automated surface vessels: does now

• Helps to be ‘legal’