Tag: BEST

Hydronalix Autonomous Science & Security Boat (HASS)

August 5, 2010 / / Comments Off on Hydronalix Autonomous Science & Security Boat (HASS)

While I was at the BEST workshop, I had an opportunity to talk with Tony about H.A.S.S. – the Hydronalix Autonomous Science & Security Boat. You may have heard of the Hydronalix for another product that Popular Science did a write-up on recently – E.M.I.L.Y. – which stands for “EMergency Integrated Lifesaving lanYard” (see Robo-Baywatch article).

HASS is a small hydro-jet powered boat a tad over 4 feet long. Its claim to fame is that it has the ability to approach marine mammals at a much closer proximity than is allowed via standard surface ships and that it will have much less of an impact with its presence due to its small size and electric drive. I shot a video with Tony (my apologies for the poor sound quality – lots of background noise).

 

HASS has an impressive list of features and capabilities which include:

  • Hydro-jet powered to prevent damage to marine animals from a propeller
  • Remotely Operated Camera
  • Side-scanning Sonar
  • Electric powered (batteries can be changed in ~5 minutes)
  • Up to 40 mph speed, with 20-30 typical
  • Endurance from 2-7 hours depending on operating conditions
  • Wireless control via a nearby ship (~0.5 mile range) or support for control via iridium satellite phone

Doug

BEST: YSI EcoMapper AUV

August 4, 2010 / / Comments Off on BEST: YSI EcoMapper AUV

As promised, I’m starting to weed my way through a couple of the videos that I shot at the BEST Workshop in Oxford MD (see previous post).  My apologies for the poor sound quality – we had a ton of people on the back deck, which created a lot of background noise. Not bad considering I shot it with my cheapy $120 HD video camera though.

This is a recording of a discussion that I had with Chris from YSI about their EcoMapper AUV. It appears that YSI has taken the OceanServer AUV and loaded it with an impressive array of sensor technologies.  The system runs Windows XP embedded on the AUV and it simply appears as another computer on the network when you’re interacting with it via wireless communications.  I’ll shut up now and let Chris do the talking, he’s the expert.

Enjoy!

Bay & Estuarine Sensor Technologies (BEST) Workshop

August 3, 2010 / / Comments Off on Bay & Estuarine Sensor Technologies (BEST) Workshop

I was able to attend the 2010 Bay & Estuarine Technologies Workshop (BEST) last week. It was held July 27-30 at the Environmental Science & Training Center at COL in Oxford, MD. Also called the “BEST by the Bay” workshop, this years workshop is a follow-up  to last years “AUVs in the Bay I” which was held in June of 2009.

AUV on Display at BEST

AUV on Display at BEST

I am a first-time attendee and it was well worth the trip. There were some awesome technologies on display at the center, including Buoys, Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), Unmanned Surface Vehicles and other technologies that allow for limited human interaction in the collection of water quality data in remote regions of the bays and estuaries. The workshop focused on “the application of sensors used in estuarine systems and storing the data using IOOS protocols so it can be used in environmental forecasting models, such as hypoxia”.

I was only able to attend the Wednesday portion of the program, so I’ll only write about what I saw. After walking around and drooling on many of the AUVs and ROVs on display (lucky they are all watertight) we went around the room and introduced ourselves and the meeting started. 

Kids Learning from Art Trembanis

Kids Learning from Art Trembanis

Attendees included a wide gambit of technology vendors, managers, scientists and even educators, students and boy scouts. The head honcho Doug Levin of NOAA quickly took charge and got all of the AUV operators who were going to run a mission on task to program their AUVs for the task at hand. In addition to the science mission, the day also included a keynote and several other presentations throughout the afternoon.

I took a few minutes and recorded a few Question & Answer sessions with some of the attendees.  I hope to cobble those together and get them online sometime soon.

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