U.S. patent application number 16/693861 was filed with the patent office on 2020-07-02 for real-time metocean sensor arrays.
This patent application is currently assigned to Sofar Ocean Technologies, Inc.. The applicant listed for this patent is Sofar Ocean Technologies, Inc.. Invention is credited to Andrew Wheeler GANS, Tim JANSSEN, Anke PIERIK, Evan SHAPIRO, Pieter Bart SMIT.
Application Number | 20200209429 16/693861 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 63581899 |
Filed Date | 2020-07-02 |
United States Patent
Application |
20200209429 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
PIERIK; Anke ; et
al. |
July 2, 2020 |
REAL-TIME METOCEAN SENSOR ARRAYS
Abstract
A real-time metocean sensor array system may include a one or
more floating instruments each including geolocation capabilities
and connected to a satellite communication network. In some
examples, the floating instruments may further include an
omnidirectional hydrophone. Motion and acoustical data gathered by
the instruments may be converted by onboard processing logic into
wave, current, and/or wind-related observations that may be
communicated in real time and analyzed via a cloud-based
system.
Inventors: |
PIERIK; Anke; (Montara,
CA) ; GANS; Andrew Wheeler; (Aptos, CA) ;
JANSSEN; Tim; (Montara, CA) ; SHAPIRO; Evan;
(San Francisco, CA) ; SMIT; Pieter Bart;
(Stanford, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Sofar Ocean Technologies, Inc. |
San Francisco |
CA |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Sofar Ocean Technologies,
Inc.
San Francisco
CA
|
Family ID: |
63581899 |
Appl. No.: |
16/693861 |
Filed: |
November 25, 2019 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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15928041 |
Mar 21, 2018 |
10488554 |
|
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16693861 |
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62474422 |
Mar 21, 2017 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
Y02A 90/10 20180101;
G01W 1/04 20130101; G06N 3/08 20130101; H04R 1/44 20130101; G01W
2001/006 20130101; Y02A 90/14 20180101; G01S 19/13 20130101; G01S
19/14 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G01W 1/04 20060101
G01W001/04; G01S 19/14 20060101 G01S019/14; H04R 1/44 20060101
H04R001/44; G01S 19/13 20060101 G01S019/13 |
Goverment Interests
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
[0002] The invention described herein was made with government
support under grant number DE-AR0000514 awarded by the Advanced
Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-e) of the U.S. Department of
Energy. The government of the United States of America may have
certain rights in the invention.
Claims
1-16. (canceled)
17. A method for estimating metocean characteristics of a body of
water, the method comprising: using displacement data from an
onboard displacement measuring device of a metocean sensor to
determine local wave spectrum energy levels in an equilibrium
range, wherein the metocean sensor is free-floating on the body of
water; using the displacement data from the onboard displacement
measuring device to determine a mean local wave direction in the
equilibrium range; calculating a first estimate of a local surface
wind speed, based on the wave spectrum energy levels; and
calculating an estimated local surface wind direction based on the
mean local wave direction.
18. The method of claim 17, further comprising calculating a second
estimate of the local surface wind speed, based on local acoustic
information.
19. The method of claim 18, further comprising combining the first
and second estimates of the local surface wind speed into a third
estimate of the local surface wind speed.
20. The method of claim 17, further comprising: communicating the
first estimate of the local surface wind speed and the estimated
local surface wind direction to a remote computer network.
21. The method of claim 20, further comprising: receiving, at the
remote computer network, calculated metocean characteristics of the
body of water from one or more other freely-floating metocean
sensors.
22. The method of claim 17, wherein using the displacement data
from the onboard displacement measuring device comprises using data
from a global positioning system (GPS) receiver.
23. A device for estimating metocean characteristics of a body of
water, the device comprising: a floating metocean sensor unit
comprising a hull enclosing processing logic in communication with
an onboard displacement measuring device, wherein the processing
logic is configured to: use displacement data from the onboard
displacement measuring device to determine wave spectrum energy
levels in an equilibrium range; use the displacement data to
determine a mean wave direction in the equilibrium range; calculate
a first estimate of a surface wind speed, based on the wave
spectrum energy levels; and calculate an estimated surface wind
direction based on the mean wave direction.
24. The device of claim 23, further comprising a hydrophone in
communication with the processing logic; wherein the processing
logic is further configured to calculate a second estimate of the
surface wind speed, based on acoustic information from the
hydrophone.
25. The device of claim 24, wherein the processing logic is further
configured to combine the first and second estimates of the surface
wind speed into a third estimate of the surface wind speed.
26. The device of claim 23, wherein the onboard displacement
measuring device comprises a global positioning system (GPS)
receiver.
27. The device of claim 23, wherein the onboard displacement
measuring device comprises an inertial measurement unit (IMU).
28. The device of claim 23, further comprising an onboard
nonvolatile memory, the processing logic further configured to
store the first estimate of the surface wind speed and the
estimated surface wind direction in the onboard nonvolatile
memory.
29. The device of claim 23, wherein the processing logic is further
configured to communicate the first estimate of the surface wind
speed and the estimated surface wind direction to a remote
server.
30. The device of claim 23, wherein the device is free floating on
the body of water.
31. A system for estimating metocean characteristics, the system
comprising: a plurality of free-floating metocean sensor units
disposed on a body of water, each unit comprising a hull enclosing
processing logic in communication with an onboard displacement
measuring device, wherein the processing logic is configured to:
use displacement data from the onboard displacement measuring
device to determine local wave spectrum energy levels in an
equilibrium range; use the displacement data from the onboard
displacement measuring device to determine a local mean wave
direction in the equilibrium range; calculate a first estimate of a
surface wind speed, based on the local wave spectrum energy levels;
and calculate an estimated surface wind direction based on the
local mean wave direction; and a computer network in remote
communication with the plurality of metocean sensor units, such
that the network is configured to receive the first estimate of the
surface wind speed and the estimated surface wind direction from
each of the metocean sensor units.
32. The system of claim 31, wherein at least one of the metocean
sensor units further comprises a hydrophone in communication with
the processing logic; wherein the processing logic of the at least
one of the metocean sensor units is further configured to calculate
a second estimate of the surface wind speed, based on acoustic
information from the hydrophone.
33. The system of claim 32, wherein the processing logic of the at
least one of the metocean sensor units is further configured to
combine the first and second estimates of the surface wind speed
into a third estimate of the surface wind speed.
34. The system of claim 31, wherein the onboard displacement
measuring device comprises a global positioning system (GPS)
receiver.
35. The system of claim 31, wherein the onboard displacement
measuring device comprises an inertial measurement unit (IMU).
36. The system of claim 31, each of the metocean sensor units
further comprising an onboard nonvolatile memory, the processing
logic further configured to store the first estimate of the surface
wind speed and the estimated surface wind direction in the onboard
nonvolatile memory.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCES
[0001] This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. .sctn.
119(e) of the priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser.
No. 62/474,422, filed Mar. 21, 2017, the entirety of which is
hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes.
FIELD
[0003] This disclosure relates to systems and methods for remote
measurement and monitoring of sensed meteorological and
oceanographic characteristics associated with bodies of water.
INTRODUCTION
[0004] The marine boundary layer, loosely defined as the upper
sixty meters (m) of the ocean and the lower 100 m of the
atmosphere, is a region of intense global economic activity,
including, e.g., global shipping, offshore industry, coastal
recreation, marine renewable energy, and global fisheries. Ocean
waves represent the dynamic interface between ocean and atmosphere,
which constitute a principal component of ocean weather, and
distribute energy to coastal areas around the world. High-fidelity
observations and forecasts of wave dynamics are essential for
efficiency and safety of our many economic activities in the ocean,
both in coastal areas and pelagic zones. Moreover, improved sensor
coverage and forecasting ability will lead to better understanding
of global ocean dynamics and air-sea interaction, improve our
ability to adapt to changes in ocean climatologies, and better
predict the dynamics of our coastlines and coastal habitats.
[0005] Traditionally, ocean wave sensors are expensive, complex,
and require special equipment to deploy and maintain. As a result,
ocean wave sensor data is sparse everywhere, and practically
nonexistent in the open ocean. Driven in part by this lack of data,
operational wave forecasting models are entirely process-based, in
essence numerically integrating a partial differential equation
with approximations and parameterizations for non-conservative and
nonlinear processes affecting the wave field. When applied over
long distances and time (e.g., for remote swell arrivals) even
small errors in approximations accumulate and can grow to be
substantial (50-100% error in wave height is not unusual). As a
consequence, local sensor data is often not available to
communities, industries, and local governments that need them most,
and without data constraints, model forecasts are often
inaccurate.
SUMMARY
[0006] The present disclosure provides systems, apparatuses, and
methods relating to floating metocean sensor systems. In some
embodiments, a floatable metocean instrument may include a hull
having a central cavity, the hull including: a symmetrical lower
portion extending downward from a midsection of the hull,
configured to be submerged when the instrument is deployed in a
body of water and to provide a uniform directional response to
surface currents and surface waves, and a polygonal upper portion
extending upward from the midsection of the hull and including a
plurality of ribs extending upward from the mid-section to define a
plurality of substantially planar angled faces; a plurality of
solar panels, each disposed on a respective one of the angled faces
of the hull; an electronics box removably disposed within the
central cavity of the hull, the electronics box having a body
portion defining an interior enclosure which contains: a global
positioning system (GPS) receiver, a satellite transceiver, and a
power regulating circuit configured to charge a battery using
energy collected by the solar panels; and a battery configured to
receive power from the power regulating circuit and to supply power
to the GPS receiver and the satellite transceiver; wherein the GPS
receiver is configured to measure positions of the instrument in
real time, and the satellite transceiver is configured to transmit
information based on the positions of the instrument to a
satellite.
[0007] In some embodiments, a buoyant metocean sensor unit may
include a hull having an inner cavity; processing logic and a
displacement sensor disposed in the inner cavity of the hull; and a
hydrophone coupled to the hull; wherein the processing logic is
configured to: receive acoustic data from the hydrophone and motion
data from the displacement sensor; determine local wave
characteristics based on the motion data; and determine, using a
trained neural network, local wind characteristics based on the
motion data and the acoustic data.
[0008] In some embodiments, a method of determining metocean
characteristics of a body of water may include: establishing remote
communication with a plurality of floating metocean sensor units
deployed in a body of water, each of the floating metocean sensor
units including a hull having an attached hydrophone and enclosing
processing logic in communication with the hydrophone and an
onboard displacement sensor; receiving wave information from each
of the sensor units based on motion of the sensor unit as
determined by the displacement sensor; and receiving wind
information from each of the sensor units based on the wave
information and a measurement of underwater sound using the
hydrophone.
[0009] Features, functions, and advantages may be achieved
independently in various embodiments of the present disclosure, or
may be combined in yet other embodiments, further details of which
can be seen with reference to the following description and
drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an illustrative metocean
sensor array system in accordance with aspects of the present
disclosure.
[0011] FIG. 2 is an isometric view of an illustrative sensor unit
suitable for use in the system of FIG. 1.
[0012] FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of the sensor unit of FIG.
2.
[0013] FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the sensor unit of FIG. 2.
[0014] FIG. 5 is an isometric exploded view of the sensor unit of
FIG. 2.
[0015] FIG. 6 is an isometric view of an electronics enclosure
suitable for use with metocean sensor units described herein.
[0016] FIG. 7 is a sectional side elevation view of the sensor unit
of FIG. 2.
[0017] FIG. 8 is a side elevation view of another illustrative
sensor unit having an attached hydrophone in accordance with
aspects of the present disclosure.
[0018] FIG. 9 is a side elevation view of the sensor unit of FIG. 8
with the hydrophone in an extended or deployed configuration.
[0019] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of an illustrative data
processing system suitable for use with aspects of the present
disclosure.
[0020] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of an illustrative computer
network suitable for use with aspects of the present
disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0021] Various aspects and examples of real-time metocean sensor
arrays, as well as related systems and methods, are described below
and illustrated in the associated drawings. Unless otherwise
specified, a sensor array system in accordance with the present
teachings, and/or its various components may, but are not required
to, contain at least one of the structures, components,
functionalities, and/or variations described, illustrated, and/or
incorporated herein. Furthermore, unless specifically excluded, the
process steps, structures, components, functionalities, and/or
variations described, illustrated, and/or incorporated herein in
connection with the present teachings may be included in other
similar devices and methods, including being interchangeable
between disclosed embodiments. The following description of various
examples is merely illustrative in nature and is in no way intended
to limit the disclosure, its application, or uses. Additionally,
the advantages provided by the examples and embodiments described
below are illustrative in nature and not all examples and
embodiments provide the same advantages or the same degree of
advantages.
[0022] This Detailed Description includes the following sections,
which follow immediately below: (1) Definitions; (2) Overview; (3)
Examples, Components, and Alternatives; (4) Illustrative
Combinations and Additional Examples; (5) Advantages, Features, and
Benefits; and (6) Conclusion. The Examples, Components, and
Alternatives section is further divided into subsections A through
E, each of which is labeled accordingly.
Definitions
[0023] The following definitions apply herein, unless otherwise
indicated.
[0024] "Substantially" means to be more-or-less conforming to the
particular dimension, range, shape, concept, or other aspect
modified by the term, such that a feature or component need not
conform exactly. For example, a "substantially cylindrical" object
means that the object resembles a cylinder, but may have one or
more deviations from a true cylinder.
[0025] "Comprising," "including," and "having" (and conjugations
thereof) are used interchangeably to mean including but not
necessarily limited to, and are open-ended terms not intended to
exclude additional, unrecited elements or method steps.
[0026] Terms such as "first", "second", and "third" are used to
distinguish or identify various members of a group, or the like,
and are not intended to show serial or numerical limitation.
[0027] "AKA" means "also known as," and may be used to indicate an
alternative or corresponding term for a given element or
elements.
[0028] "Coupled" means connected, either permanently or releasably,
whether directly or indirectly through intervening components, and
is not necessarily limited to physical connection(s).
Overview
[0029] The dynamics of the air-sea interface, which is responsible
for the exchange of momentum, heat, water, and gas between the
atmosphere and ocean, is driven by the action of (e.g., breaking)
ocean waves, surface winds, and precipitation. The measurement of
meteorological and oceanographic (i.e., metocean) characteristics,
such as wave and current motions, temperature, wind, precipitation,
fog, and/or the like, can be important for understanding air-sea
dynamics, quantifying ocean-atmosphere exchange processes, and
improving weather and wave models. Although great progress has been
made in remote satellite sensing technology, the coverage remains
limited due to inherent limitations in space-time sampling, and
generally coarse temporal resolution. Moreover, accurate
interpretation of remote sensing data usually requires calibration
with in-situ measurements, which are often not available.
[0030] In-situ observations are generally very accurate, and
provide excellent temporal resolution, however, the instrumentation
required can be cost prohibitive and burdensome to deploy and
maintain. In particular, direct measurements of wind and waves have
historically been costly and difficult. Direct measurement of
surface winds, for example, are typically made with elevated
anemometers on masts, which require larger platforms for stability,
or spar-like buoy geometries. Marine-grade anemometers are
relatively costly, wave-induced platform motions need to be
corrected for in the measurements, and the elevated position of the
anemometer makes it vulnerable. Further, due to their size and
cost, traditional in-situ metocean (i.e.,
meteorological-oceanographic) platforms are usually moored to the
seafloor, which requires large vessels and specialized crew to
deploy and becomes increasingly complicated in deep-water
regions.
[0031] Traditional in-situ wave sensors are also expensive, large
and heavy, and difficult to operate. Because of their cost, they
are almost always moored into place to maintain position and
prevent loss. Due to their complexity and size, they tend to be
serviced by skilled and specialized engineers and scientists, and
require larger service vessels, e.g., equipped with an A-frame
hoist, to deploy. Due to high deployment and maintenance costs
these instruments will generally be deployed proximate developed
coastal areas in limited water depth and where they can be reached
more easily.
[0032] As a consequence, in-situ metocean data in general, and
collocated wave-wind data in particular, is generally sparse, and
almost non-existent in open ocean regions.
[0033] The present disclosure describes rapidly deployable,
low-cost, distributed sensor networks comprising compact,
autonomous, floating instruments, also referred to as sensor units,
buoys, and/or drifters. Due to their lower cost and size, these
instruments can be deployed from almost any size vessel, and enable
new deployment strategies such as free-drifting arrays in
inaccessible regions, high-density networks to create local data
abundance for statistical processing, etc. As used herein, a
real-time metocean sensor array can include one or more sensor
units.
[0034] In general, and with reference to FIG. 1, a system 10
comprising a real-time metocean sensor array 12 in accordance with
the present disclosure may include a plurality of free-floating
sensor units 14 deployed in a body of water 16 (e.g., an ocean or
portion thereof). Each sensor unit 14 may be configured to sense
meteorological and/or oceanographic characteristics of its local
environment, and to determine its geographical position using a
plurality of onboard sensors 18. For example, onboard sensors 18
may include a global positioning system (GPS) receiver for
determining latitude, longitude, and elevation from a GPS satellite
network 20, a motion sensor, acoustical sensor (e.g., a
hydrophone), conductivity sensor, temperature sensor, salinity
sensor, and/or the like. Although a selected number of sensor units
is shown in FIG. 1, more or fewer sensor units may be utilized, and
array 12 may include different numbers of sensor units 14 at
different times.
[0035] Each sensor unit 14 may further be configured to communicate
with a computer network 22 or cloud via satellite communications.
For example, sensor units 14 may have satellite communication
modules 24 that include components such as a transceiver and modem
configured to communicate with a communications satellite
constellation 26 (e.g., the Iridium constellation). Although the
GPS network and the Iridium constellation are depicted in FIG. 1,
any suitable position/displacement and communication systems may be
utilized. For example, with respect to the satellite modem,
telemetry may be supplemented by (or changed to) one or more other
types, such as radio frequency (RF) antenna, GSM (Global System for
Mobile Communications)/GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) cellular
modem, Bluetooth.RTM. wireless technology, and/or WiFi.
[0036] Sensor data is processed onboard each sensor unit 14, using
processing logic 28. Processing logic 28 may include any suitable
device or hardware configured to process data by performing one or
more logical and/or arithmetic operations (e.g., executing coded
instructions). For example, processing logic 28 may include one or
more processors (e.g., central processing units (CPU) and/or
graphics processing units (GPU)), microprocessors, clusters of
processing cores, FPGAs (field-programmable gate arrays),
artificial intelligence (Al) accelerators, digital signal
processors, and/or any other suitable combination of logic
hardware. Users may be granted access to the data, or a processed
and/or aggregated version thereof, by accessing network 22 using,
e.g., any suitable computing device 30. Access to the data may be
accomplished substantially directly, for example, by organizing
data received from the metocean sensor units into a database and
providing access via an application programming interface (API) 32
provided for the purpose. Additionally or alternatively, the data
may be aggregated and made accessible to the user through a
front-end Web application portal.
[0037] A back-end software system comprising network 22 may include
a data store (e.g., database) to receive, store, and organize data.
In the depicted example, a computer software application 34
executed by computing device 30 and/or server(s) in cloud 22
provides a front-end user interface (UI, e.g., a graphical user
interface or GUI), allowing the user to view, analyze, manipulate,
or otherwise interact with information collected or transmitted by
array 12. In addition, the software application may provide
real-time information regarding system 10, such as a particular
instrument's location and various other desired real-time features
of the instrument and/or its surroundings. Substantially any
information that can be transmitted by the instrument to satellite
system 26, and/or anything that can be deduced or inferred from
such information, can be displayed to the user by the software
application.
[0038] The Web-based interface, and in some examples software
application 34 via API 32, may allow the user to control various
aspects of the instrument remotely. For example, the satellite
transceiver of the instrument may be configured to transmit
information regarding at least one setting of the instrument to the
cloud via satellite, which may then permit access by the Web
interface and/or computer software application. The Web interface
and/or computer software application may be configured to display
the instrument settings to the user, receive instructions to change
the settings from the user, and transmit those instructions back to
the instrument via the cloud and the satellite communication
system. Non-limiting examples of instrument settings that might be
changed remotely in this manner include power status of the
instrument, data sampling rates, data update rates, strobe light
activation and flash sequence, and on-instrument data processing,
among others.
[0039] Furthermore, the Web interface and/or software application
may be configured to generate a real-time alert and to display the
alert on a graphical user interface, if user-defined conditions of
the instrument are exceeded. In some examples, real-time alerts may
be provided to the user in a different format, such as by email,
text message, and/or the like. For example, the system may be
configured to alert the user if particular wave or current
magnitudes are exceeded, or the location of the instrument passes
beyond some predetermined geographical boundary, or if the
instrument malfunctions or stops functioning, among others. In some
examples, remote firmware updates may be made to the sensor units
via system 10, e.g., for on the fly adjustments of sensor
functionality, onboard analysis, etc.
[0040] Aspects of metocean sensor array systems may be embodied as
a computer method, computer system, or computer program product.
Accordingly, aspects of the metocean sensor array system may take
the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software
embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, and
the like), or an embodiment combining software and hardware
aspects, all of which may generally be referred to herein as a
"circuit," "module," or "system." Furthermore, aspects of the
metocean sensor array system may take the form of a computer
program product embodied in a computer-readable medium (or media)
having computer-readable program code/instructions embodied
thereon.
[0041] Any combination of computer-readable media may be utilized.
Computer-readable media can be a computer-readable signal medium
and/or a computer-readable storage medium. A computer-readable
storage medium may include an electronic, magnetic, optical,
electromagnetic, infrared, and/or semiconductor system, apparatus,
or device, or any suitable combination of these. More specific
examples of a computer-readable storage medium may include the
following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a
portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory
(RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only
memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable
compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device,
a magnetic storage device, and/or any suitable combination of these
and/or the like. In the context of this disclosure, a
computer-readable storage medium may include any suitable
non-transitory, tangible medium that can contain or store a program
for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system,
apparatus, or device.
[0042] A computer-readable signal medium may include a propagated
data signal with computer-readable program code embodied therein,
for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a
propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including,
but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, and/or any suitable
combination thereof. A computer-readable signal medium may include
any computer-readable medium that is not a computer-readable
storage medium and that is capable of communicating, propagating,
or transporting a program for use by or in connection with an
instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
[0043] Program code embodied on a computer-readable medium may be
transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited
to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, and/or the like,
and/or any suitable combination of these.
[0044] Computer program code for carrying out operations for
aspects of the metocean sensor array system may be written in one
or any combination of programming languages, including an
object-oriented programming language such as Java, C++, and/or the
like, and conventional procedural programming languages, such as C.
Mobile apps may be developed using any suitable language, including
those previously mentioned, as well as Objective-C, Swift, C#,
HTML5, and the like. The program code may execute entirely on a
user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone
software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a
remote computer, or entirely on the remote computer or server. In
the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the
user's computer through any type of network, including a local area
network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), and/or the connection
may be made to an external computer (for example, through the
Internet using an Internet Service Provider).
[0045] Aspects of the metocean sensor array system are described
herein with reference to block diagrams of methods, apparatuses,
systems, and/or computer program products. Each block and/or
combination of blocks in a block diagram may be implemented by
computer program instructions. The computer program instructions
may be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer,
special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing
apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which
execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable
data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the
functions/acts specified in the block diagram block(s). In some
examples, machine-readable instructions may be programmed onto a
programmable logic device, such as a field programmable gate array
(FPGA).
[0046] These computer program instructions can also be stored in a
computer-readable medium that can direct a computer, other
programmable data processing apparatus, and/or other device to
function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored
in the computer-readable medium produce an article of manufacture
including instructions which implement the function/act specified
in the block diagram block(s).
[0047] The computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a
computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, and/or
other device to cause a series of operational steps to be performed
on the device to produce a computer-implemented process such that
the instructions which execute on the computer or other
programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the
functions/acts specified in the block diagram block(s).
[0048] Any block diagram in the drawings is intended to illustrate
the architecture, functionality, and/or operation of possible
implementations of systems, methods, and computer program products
according to aspects of the metocean sensor array system. In this
regard, each block may represent a module, segment, or portion of
code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for
implementing the specified logical function(s). In some
implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of
the order noted in the drawings. For example, two blocks shown in
succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or
the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order,
depending upon the functionality involved. Each block and/or
combination of blocks may be implemented by special purpose
hardware-based systems (or combinations of special purpose hardware
and computer instructions) that perform the specified functions or
acts.
EXAMPLES, COMPONENTS, AND ALTERNATIVES
[0049] The following sections describe selected aspects of
exemplary real-time metocean sensor arrays, as well as related
systems and/or methods. The examples in these sections are intended
for illustration and should not be interpreted as limiting the
entire scope of the present disclosure. Each section may include
one or more distinct embodiments or examples, and/or contextual or
related information, function, and/or structure.
A. Illustrative Sensor Units
[0050] As shown in FIGS. 2-9, this section describes an
illustrative sensor unit 100 suitable for use with real-time
metocean sensor arrays in accordance with the present disclosure.
Sensor unit 100 is an example of sensor units 14, described
above.
[0051] FIG. 2 is an isometric view of sensor unit 100; FIG. 3 is a
side elevation view of sensor unit 100; and FIG. 4 is an overhead
plan view of sensor unit 100. FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the
sensor unit; and FIG. 6 is an isometric view of a selected
component thereof. FIG. 7 is a sectional view of sensor unit 100,
showing relationships between internal components as assembled.
Finally, FIGS. 8 and 9 are side elevation views of an embodiment of
the sensor unit having an extendable/retractable hydrophone.
[0052] Sensor unit 100 is an ocean wave and current sensor that
integrates a fast-sampling, high-fidelity motion sensing package,
onboard analysis, and processing for directional wave spectra and
surface drift. As described above, global connectivity is provided
through a satellite network, such as the Iridium satellite
constellation. Sensor unit 100 is a solar-powered sensor platform,
in the form of an oceanographic buoy. In the depicted embodiment,
sensor unit 100 has a 0.37-inch thick exterior hull constructed
from marine-grade plastics, with a six-inch opening at the top of
the buoy extending into a hollow inner cavity. The sensor unit is
compact (e.g., approximately fifteen inches in diameter),
lightweight (e.g., approximately twelve lbs.), and may be
completely solar-powered. (All of these dimensions, as well as
others, can be varied.) These characteristics enable deployments
from small vessels, as well as sustained operation. As described in
the Overview section, each sensor unit may be in communication with
a cloud-based back end, which may integrate with a web-based
dashboard and/or an API to provide endpoints for real-time data
integration into models, remote two-way access by users, and other
real-time applications.
[0053] As mentioned above, FIGS. 2-5 show various views of an
instrument, i.e., sensor unit 100, for measuring metocean
characteristics, such as ocean wave and current motions. Instrument
100 includes a hull 102, a plurality of solar panels 104 disposed
on outer portions of the hull, and an electronics box 106 disposed
inside the hull. An isometric view of electronics box 106 is
depicted in FIG. 6.
[0054] Hull 102 is generally hollow, defining a central cavity 108,
and includes a symmetrical lower portion 110 extending downward
from a midsection of the hull, the midsection being generally
defined by a perimetric flange 112. Lower portion 110 of the hull
is configured and intended to be submerged when the instrument is
deployed in a body of water (e.g., body of water 16). Furthermore,
lower portion 110 is symmetrical around a vertical axis, to provide
stability and a uniform directional response to ocean surface
currents and surface waves. In the embodiments shown in the
drawings of the present disclosure, lower portion 110 of hull 102
is depicted as a cap or a segment of a sphere. In other cases, the
lower portion of the hull might take some other axially symmetric
shape, such as a cylindrical or frustoconical section.
[0055] Hull 102 also includes a polygonal upper portion 114
extending upward from the midsection of the hull. More
specifically, upper portion 114 in this example is substantially
frusto-pyramidal in shape, although other shapes may be suitable.
Upper portion 114 of the hull includes a plurality of ribs 116
extending upward in triangular pairs from flange 112 to define a
plurality of substantially planar angled faces 118. In the
embodiments shown in the drawings of the present disclosure, upper
portion 114 of hull 102 is depicted as pentagonal, meaning it
defines five angled faces 118. More generally, the upper portion of
the hull can define any desired number planar faces, such as three,
four, six, or eight, among others.
[0056] A corresponding number of solar panels 104 are each disposed
on a respective one of angled faces 118 of hull 102. Angled faces
118 may be oriented to optimize collection of incident solar
radiation over a predetermined range of latitudes, such as zero to
seventy degrees latitude. For example, angled faces 118 may be
oriented at an angle in the range of approximately thirty to
approximately sixty degrees with respect to a horizontal plane. In
some cases, angled faces 118 may be oriented at an angle of
approximately fifty degrees with respect to a horizontal plane. In
this example, the taper angle and width of the sides of the
pentagonal shape (e.g., approximately eleven inches) accommodate
five solar panels at a zenith angle to optimize global performance
while maintaining sufficient space on the top section to fit the
electronics.
[0057] The triangular structures formed by ribs 116 provide
strength and rigidity to the hull structure, thus keeping the hull
lightweight. As best shown in FIG. 4, material is removed, i.e.,
apertures are formed, at three of the five corners of flange 112
(marked A, B, and C) to provide handles 120 (AKA grab points) for
the buoy. In other embodiments, more or fewer such handles may be
provided. Handles 120 can be used for lifting the buoy, pulling it
out of the water, attaching grab lines or other items, etc. In this
example, the remaining two corners (marked D and E) are kept closed
to enable additional attachments, sensors, and/or pressure
testing.
[0058] As shown in FIGS. 5-7, electronics box 106 is removably
disposed within an upper portion of central cavity 108 of the hull.
The electronics box has a body portion 122 defining an interior
enclosure 124 which contains various electronics components to
accomplish the desired functions of the instrument. See FIG. 7.
Specifically, electronics box 106 contains at least a displacement
sensor such as a GPS receiver 126 or the like, a satellite
transceiver 128, a battery 130 configured to supply power to the
instrument, at least including to the GPS receiver and the
satellite transceiver, and a power regulating circuit 132
configured to charge the battery using energy collected by the
solar panels. In some cases, the electronics box also may contain
an inertial measurement unit (IMU) 134. The physical arrangement of
the components within the electronics box need not be limited to
the arrangement depicted in FIG. 7, and can include, for example,
vertically and/or horizontally stacked printed circuit boards
containing the components in any desired arrangement or
configuration. Furthermore, in some embodiments, battery 130 may be
placed outside the electronics box (but still within hull 102)
rather than inside the electronics box.
[0059] In some examples, the electronics box may be modular, such
that different versions of the enclosure (e.g., containing
different sensor packages) can be swapped into and out of the same
sensor unit hull. For example, a user could obtain one sensor unit
accompanied by both an Iridium-based electronics box and a
GSM-based electronics box, and then utilize the appropriate
electronics box depending on the deployment needs.
[0060] Although the sensor components shown in the accompanying
drawings primarily include a GPS receiver, an IMU, and in some
cases a hydrophone, other embodiments may include additional
sensors such as digital cameras, temperature and/or salinity
sensors, among others.
[0061] Generally speaking, GPS receiver 126 is configured to
determine positions and displacement of the instrument in real time
(e.g., the buoy's geographical position and elevation may be
sampled at a rate of 2.5 Hz), and satellite transceiver 128 is
configured to transmit information based on the positions and/or
displacement of the instrument. The information transmitted may
include raw position data and/or data which has been filtered,
corrected, transformed into velocity or relative motion
information, or otherwise processed before transmission to the
satellite. A digital signal processor 136 (DSP) may be provided and
programmed to perform such filtering, correction or transformation
of the raw data. This processor may reside on a separate circuit
board as depicted in FIG. 7, or it may be integrated into a circuit
board that also contains additional components.
[0062] In some cases, digital signal processor 136 may be
configured to use the motion data collected by the IMU to correct
position determinations made by the GPS receiver. Alternatively or
additionally, the digital signal processor may be configured to
receive data collected by the GPS receiver and to transform the
data into wave and current information, before the satellite
transceiver transmits the wave and current information. In some
embodiments, more than one digital signal processor may be provided
within the electronics box, with each performing some of the
desired functions of the instrument. In some embodiments, an Al
accelerator 138 is included to provide onboard artificial
intelligence capabilities (see section B).
[0063] In the depicted embodiments, upper portion 114 of hull 102
includes a top clamping ring 140. When instrument 100 is fully
assembled, electronics box 106 is inserted through a central
aperture in clamping ring 140 and suspended from an inboard lip 141
of the ring into central cavity 108 of the hull (see FIG. 7). The
clamping ring is bolted, screwed, or otherwise fastened to hull
102, and includes an outer flange 142 that pins solar panels 104 in
place at their top ends. More specifically, the five solar panels
(e.g., each approximately 4.25''.times.5.5'') are installed into
recesses (AKA solar pads) between the vertical ribs. At the base of
each recess there is a lip extruded from the hull which captures
the bottom edge of the solar panel. The top edge of each solar
panel is captured by flange 142, which clamps the panel in place.
This arrangement results in no additional screw attachments
penetrating the hull, and facilitates device assembly. Behind each
solar panel, and as part of the solar pads, there is an indentation
in the hull for the cable assembly to be threaded into main hull
cavity 108. The solar panels are wired into the hull cavity (e.g.,
to the electronics box) through a cable gland inserted into a
through-hull aperture at the base of each indentation.
[0064] In some examples, lower portion 110 of hull 102 includes a
substantially planar bottom surface 144 (e.g., approximately 4.5
inches in diameter), allowing the instrument to be rested upon a
flat surface, such as a table or deck, in a stable, upright
position. A ballast plate 145 (e.g., a stainless steel ballast
plate) may be molded into the bottom of the hull body. This
integrated ballast plate provides an attachment point, e.g., for a
D-ring, allowing the buoy to be connected to a mooring system.
Other attachment mechanisms may be provided, either additionally or
alternatively.
[0065] Electronics box 106 includes a lid 146 containing an
integrated user interaction panel 148 (see FIG. 4). The user
interaction panel may include a wide variety of user interface
mechanisms, such as a power switch 150, a wired communications port
152, a memory slot 154, at least one status indicator light 156,
and a charging port 158. In some cases, lid 146 may further contain
a visibility strobe 160. In some examples, more or fewer mechanisms
and features may be present.
[0066] With reference to FIG. 6, the exterior configuration of
electronics box 106 is shown, including the user-interaction panel
(top), and strain-release cut-outs for solar panel cables (near
bottom). The interior electronics of the instrument are enclosed in
the plastic cylindrical electronics box, which is attached to the
clamping ring and suspended into the main buoy cavity. The box lid
rests on a lip on the clamping ring inner diameter, and is
attached, e.g., by two screws. Box 106 integrates the complete user
interaction panel in its top lid, which faces outward, toward the
user for ready accessibility.
[0067] Electronics box 106 includes a main rounded-square body with
a circular lid. In some examples, the box houses one four-cell
lithium-ion battery as well as two vertical printed circuit boards
(PCBs) and one horizontal circuit board (PCB). The two vertical
boards are the motherboard (housing the main processor) and the
power regulating board (housing solar regulating electronics and
battery charger). On top of the vertically stacked boards is a
third PCB, which is horizontally mounted and sits underneath the
electronics box lid. This horizontal PCB houses the GPS antenna,
satellite telemetry antenna, switches, and user access panel.
[0068] In some examples, onboard motion sensors include a GPS
receiver and an IMU. The GPS antenna is mounted on a ground plane
of poured copper, integrated into the top PCB, to prevent
multi-path distortion of the GPS signal. An Iridium satellite modem
provides global telemetry. The user access panel includes an on/off
switch, USB access port, nonvolatile memory (e.g., Secure Digital
(SD) card), a wall charging port, and LED indicator lights for the
battery charge levels and system status. A third LED light may be
recessed into the electronics box lid, functioning as an on-water
visibility strobe. A Hall effect sensor may also be included to
switch the instrument between standby and operational settings
using a small hand-held magnet. The LED lights, on/off switch,
charging port, USB access port and SD drive are all accessible on
top of the electronics box.
[0069] Instrument 100 further includes a transparent cover 166
attached to upper portion 114 of the hull and covering lid 146 of
electronics box 106. A sealing member, such as a silicone gasket
seal 168, may be disposed between transparent cover 166 and
clamping ring 140, and/or between ring 140 and an upper lip 170 of
the hull of the instrument (as depicted in FIG. 7), to prevent
ingress of water into the electronics box and/or cavity 108. The
transparent cover provides an easily removable main seal and visual
access to the user interaction panel.
[0070] The transparent cover also may include various other
features, such as an indentation 172 to accommodate a magnet that
can be used to activate the instrument by triggering a Hall sensor
(not shown). Specifically, indentation 172 may be a recess (e.g.,
approximately one inch in diameter) located directly above the Hall
sensor to provide the user with an indication of where to hold the
magnet for mode-switching, and minimize the distance (gap) to the
sensor to optimize functionality. Additionally or alternatively, a
refractive light pipe 174 may be configured to scatter light
produced by the visibility strobe (e.g., to provide improved
visibility from the side). In some examples, the lightpipe includes
a short (e.g., approximately two inch) truncated-cone protrusion,
located directly over the strobe LED. The truncated-cone has eight
ribs which extend into a recess in the electronics box lid where
the strobe LED sits. The lightpipe draws light from the surface
mounted LED on the horizontally oriented PCB underneath the e-box
lid to the surface of the plastic cover through refraction.
[0071] Turning now to FIGS. 8 and 9, a second embodiment of sensor
unit 100 is depicted and generally indicated at 100'. Sensor unit
100' is substantially identical to sensor unit 100, as described
above, with the addition of a retractable hydrophone 200. To
collect underwater acoustics data, omnidirectional hydrophone 200
is suspended on a tether 202 from the hull of sensor unit 100',
e.g., at approximately two meters below the ocean surface (see FIG.
9). A two-meter depth deployment may provide shielding, e.g.,
against radiated sound from surface splashes against the hull.
Other configurations may include various deployment depths, direct
in-hull mounted, and various flow shielding options. To reduce
footprint while in storage or while being transported, tether 202
may be coiled up or wound on an in-hull reel in the pre-deployment
phase. Hydrophone 200 may be configured to deploy automatically
when in contact with water. The tether (AKA cable) may be
integrated into the hull through a strain relief 204, which is
flexible enough to allow Lagrangian movement of the hydrophone to
prevent flow noise, and reduce strain on the connecting
hull-surface.
[0072] The electronics of sensor unit 100' incorporate Al
accelerator hardware and provide the processing power (DSP),
bandwidth, and on-board memory to enable real-time data acquisition
at hydrophone sampling rates on the order of 100s of kHz. This
hardware is utilized in one or more of the algorithms described in
the following section. The firmware is configured to provide power
management to enable long-term deployment.
[0073] Real-Time Motion Acquisition System (RTMAS)
[0074] In some examples, a motion sensor package includes a
single-frequency GPS receiver and Inertial Measurement Unit to
record the instrument's position and orientation in real time. The
depicted embodiments acquire ocean wave motion and surface current
motion based on GPS measurements, leveraging the precision achieved
by the single-frequency receiver with a properly tuned and
integrated antenna. Some embodiments integrate this activity with
the onboard IMU to further constrain motion dynamics, and include
higher-order corrections due to, e.g., antenna offset and/or pitch
and roll motion of the device.
[0075] The GPS receiver provides time-of-day and instantaneous
three-dimensional position estimates (latitude, longitude,
elevation), as well as three-dimensional Doppler velocities (u, v,
w). The GPS contains various sources of noise, which may be
filtered out either on board the instrument, via remote processing,
or through a combination of local and remote processing. To obtain
wave statistics for satellite transmission, the GPS data may be run
through a spectral analysis to obtain spectral distribution of wave
variance (energy), and directions. This analysis may be implemented
onboard to reduce the data density, thereby enabling relatively
low-bandwidth satellite communication of the data (e.g., bulk
statistics) on a regular basis (e.g., every hour).
[0076] Any suitable displacement-based algorithm may be implemented
onboard the sensor units, to estimate three-dimensional
displacement of the sensor unit based on raw position and elevation
output passed to the algorithm from the GPS receiver. The present
system solves for positions while incorporating a "relaxation to a
zero-mean" displacement record, utilizing a low-pass filter. This
prevents build-up of large values in the displacement record, which
would result in loss of precision and/or overflow of the variable
memory allocation on the embedded system. This relaxation
implementation enables the measurement of waves in the presence of
mean displacements from currents, which facilitates use of the
instrument as a free-drifting measuring device (in addition to a
moored option), even in strong currents.
[0077] The time series wave signal data and spectral data may be
encoded and stored in nonvolatile memory onboard the sensor unit.
Integrated statistics may be transferred by the satellite modem to
one or more servers, where the data is parsed and stored in the
system's back end database. Sensor unit status information, e.g.,
including temperature, humidity, geographical position, system
status, and solar intensity, may also be transmitted by the
instrument's satellite modem to the cloud server(s). Data stored on
the sensor unit (e.g., SD card) may also be retrieved by the user
and manually uploaded to the cloud, where it will be unencrypted,
quality-improved, parsed, and stored in the back-end database.
[0078] Exemplary Deployment
[0079] The following is an illustrative process for deploying one
or more sensor units, such as sensor unit 100. To prepare a sensor
unit for deployment, the user creates an account with system 10 and
sets any deployment-specific instrument settings. The settings may
include approximate water depth, sampling rates, data update rate,
whether the instrument is free-floating or moored to the seafloor,
etc. On the device side, the user activates the sensor unit, e.g.,
by turning the power switch on the electronics box to the "ON"
position, and checks for successful startup as indicated by the
LEDs. If successful, the user closes and secures the transparent
lid, and the system is ready for deployment.
[0080] In transit to the deployment site, the user can check the
status of the instrument by viewing the user LEDs. When onsite, the
user can switch the instrument to active sampling mode by holding a
magnet to the designated indentation in the lid, thereby triggering
the Hall sensor and switching the system to active mode. The user
can switch back to sleep mode by again triggering the Hall sensor
with the magnet. Using this type of magnetic switch enables the
user to prepare the system without needing to open or close the
main seal while in transit or on the water.
[0081] The user then places the sensor unit into the water, either
attached to a mooring system or free drifting. Depending on user
settings, the visibility LED may flash continuously, or at night,
or in periods of low light when the system is running, as a
navigation warning for mariners.
B. Illustrative Wind Sensing Method
[0082] This section describes steps of an illustrative method for
determining wind characteristics using one or more real-time,
hydrophone-equipped, metocean sensor units, such as sensor unit
100' described above. Aspects of metocean sensor array systems
described above may be utilized in the method steps described
below. Where appropriate, reference may be made to components and
systems that may be used in carrying out each step. These
references are for illustration, and are not intended to limit the
possible ways of carrying out any particular step of the
method.
[0083] Metocean sensor units (and arrays thereof) may include an
inverse wind sensing capability through integration of a
near-surface omnidirectional hydrophone, utilizing one or more
physics-based machine learning algorithms and low-power artificial
intelligence (AI) hardware. The fusion of hydrophone observations
with fast-sampling surface motion tracking provides a rich data
set. Inverse wind sensing is described herein for estimating wind
speed and stress. However, the same or similar hardware may be used
in related applications, such as precipitation detection, vessel
identification, and wave breaking dissipation.
[0084] The relation between wind speed and high-frequency ambient
underwater sound is well established. Although the ambient
underwater sound spectrum has numerous sources, including surface
waves, global shipping, and biological contributions, the primary
natural source of ocean ambient sound in the range from 500 Hz to
50 kHz is the resonant self-oscillation of bubbles trapped under
water by breaking waves or precipitation. The relation between wind
and underwater noise is indirect: the wind provides energy to the
surface wave field, which grows, and eventually leads to wave
breaking, which injects air bubbles under water that radiate sound.
Generally, stronger winds result in more wave breaking, more
bubbles, and thus higher noise levels. Other sound sources (e.g.
nearby shipping, precipitation, biology, etc.) can affect the
underwater noise spectrum, which can complicate application of a
direct physics-based inversion from the acoustic signal alone.
Through collocation with a surface motion-sensing package, which
provides a high-fidelity estimate of the wave spectrum and the
lowest-order directional moments, another proxy of wind speed and
direction is available. The wind speed can be derived from wave
spectrum energy levels in the equilibrium range, and the mean wave
direction in that spectral range provides a proxy for the surface
wind direction.
[0085] By combining collocated observations of underwater sound and
surface waves two quasi-independent estimates for wind speed are
obtained, as well as a wave-derived wind direction proxy.
Algorithms are utilized to optimize the weighting between the two
estimates, depending on the conditions and specifics of the sound
and wave spectrum. Conceptually the wind speed estimate, u, can be
expressed as:
u=F[u.sub.a,u.sub.w](cos .theta..sub.w,sin .theta..sub.w),
where F denotes the fusion operator that combines the underwater
sound and equilibrium wave spectrum observations, u.sub.a denotes
an acoustics-based wind-speed estimate, u.sub.w corresponds to a
wave-based wind-speed estimate, and .theta..sub.w is the
wave-derived mean wind-direction. Both conventional algorithms and
machine learning algorithms may be used (separately or together) to
fuse the acoustic- and wave-based wind speed estimates. This may be
done in combination with available physics relations, or as a
stand-alone process.
[0086] Instead of, or in addition to, using predetermined
approximate relations that relate observed quantities to wind
speed, the system can be trained to directly infer wind speed from
the acoustic and motion data. Physics-based relations for wind
inversion effectively fit a predetermined, simple relation to
available observations. Through machine learning, the ANN system
establishes an AI-based inversion function, which may enable it to
infer nonobvious relationships. In some examples, the machine
learning-based wind inversion and sensor fusion may be compared to
or provided to the user in parallel with the physics-based
inversion strategy.
[0087] As with the wave signal data, wind-related data may be
encoded and stored in nonvolatile memory onboard the sensor unit.
Integrated statistics may be transferred by the satellite modem to
one or more servers, where the data is parsed and stored in the
system's back end database. Again, data stored on the sensor unit
(e.g., SD card) may also be retrieved by the user and manually
uploaded to the cloud, where it will be unencrypted,
quality-improved, parsed, and stored in the back-end database.
C. Illustrative Data Processing System
[0088] As shown in FIG. 10, this example describes a data
processing system 800 (also referred to as a computer, computing
system, and/or computer system) in accordance with aspects of the
present disclosure. In this example, data processing system 800 is
an illustrative data processing system suitable for implementing
aspects of the real-time metocean sensor array system. More
specifically, in some examples, elements such as computing device
30 for accessing system data, a server in network 22 for storing
and manipulating data, and/or processing logic onboard each of the
sensor units, may be embodiments of data processing systems
described in this section.
[0089] In this illustrative example, data processing system 800
includes a system bus 802 (also referred to as communications
framework). System bus 802 may provide communications between a
processor unit 804 (also referred to as a processor or processors),
a memory 806, a persistent storage 808, a communications unit 810,
an input/output (I/O) unit 812, a codec 830, and/or a display 814.
Memory 806, persistent storage 808, communications unit 810,
input/output (I/O) unit 812, display 814, and codec 830 are
examples of resources that may be accessible by processor unit 804
via system bus 802.
[0090] Processor unit 804 serves to run instructions that may be
loaded into memory 806. Processor unit 804 may comprise a number of
processors, a multi-processor core, and/or a particular type of
processor or processors (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU),
graphics processing unit (GPU), etc.), depending on the particular
implementation. Further, processor unit 804 may be implemented
using a number of heterogeneous processor systems in which a main
processor is present with secondary processors on a single chip. As
another illustrative example, processor unit 804 may be a symmetric
multi-processor system containing multiple processors of the same
type.
[0091] Memory 806 and persistent storage 808 are examples of
storage devices 816. A storage device may include any suitable
hardware capable of storing information (e.g., digital
information), such as data, program code in functional form, and/or
other suitable information, either on a temporary basis or a
permanent basis.
[0092] Storage devices 816 also may be referred to as
computer-readable storage devices or computer-readable media.
Memory 806 may include a volatile storage memory 840 and a
non-volatile memory 842. In some examples, a basic input/output
system (BIOS), containing the basic routines to transfer
information between elements within the data processing system 800,
such as during start-up, may be stored in non-volatile memory 842.
Persistent storage 808 may take various forms, depending on the
particular implementation.
[0093] Persistent storage 808 may contain one or more components or
devices. For example, persistent storage 808 may include one or
more devices such as a magnetic disk drive (also referred to as a
hard disk drive or HDD), solid state disk (SSD), floppy disk drive,
tape drive, Jaz drive, Zip drive, flash memory card, memory stick,
and/or the like, or any combination of these. One or more of these
devices may be removable and/or portable, e.g., a removable hard
drive. Persistent storage 808 may include one or more storage media
separately or in combination with other storage media, including an
optical disk drive such as a compact disk ROM device (CD-ROM), CD
recordable drive (CD-R Drive), CD rewritable drive (CD-RW Drive),
and/or a digital versatile disk ROM drive (DVD-ROM). To facilitate
connection of the persistent storage devices 808 to system bus 802,
a removable or non-removable interface is typically used, such as
interface 828.
[0094] Input/output (I/O) unit 812 allows for input and output of
data with other devices that may be connected to data processing
system 800 (i.e., input devices and output devices). For example,
input device 832 may include one or more pointing and/or
information-input devices such as a keyboard, a mouse, a trackball,
stylus, touch pad or touch screen, microphone, joystick, game pad,
satellite dish, scanner, TV tuner card, digital camera, digital
video camera, web camera, and/or the like. These and other input
devices may connect to processor unit 804 through system bus 802
via interface port(s) 836. Interface port(s) 836 may include, for
example, a serial port, a parallel port, a game port, and/or a
universal serial bus (USB).
[0095] Output devices 834 may use some of the same types of ports,
and in some cases the same actual ports, as input device(s) 832.
For example, a USB port may be used to provide input to data
processing system 800 and to output information from data
processing system 800 to an output device 834. Output adapter 838
is provided to illustrate that there are some output devices 834
(e.g., monitors, speakers, and printers, among others) which
require special adapters. Output adapters 838 may include, e.g.
video and sounds cards that provide a means of connection between
the output device 834 and system bus 802. Other devices and/or
systems of devices may provide both input and output capabilities,
such as remote computer(s) 860. Display 814 may include any
suitable human-machine interface or other mechanism configured to
display information to a user, e.g., a CRT, LED, or LCD monitor or
screen, etc.
[0096] Communications unit 810 refers to any suitable hardware
and/or software employed to provide for communications with other
data processing systems or devices. While communication unit 810 is
shown inside data processing system 800, it may in some examples be
at least partially external to data processing system 800.
Communications unit 810 may include internal and external
technologies, e.g., modems (including regular telephone grade
modems, cable modems, and DSL modems), ISDN adapters, and/or wired
and wireless Ethernet cards, hubs, routers, etc. Data processing
system 800 may operate in a networked environment, using logical
connections to one or more remote computers 860. A remote
computer(s) 860 may include a personal computer (PC), a server, a
router, a network PC, a workstation, a microprocessor-based
appliance, a peer device, a smart phone, a tablet, another network
note, and/or the like. Remote computer(s) 860 typically include
many of the elements described relative to data processing system
800. Remote computer(s) 860 may be logically connected to data
processing system 800 through a network interface 862 which is
connected to data processing system 800 via communications unit
810. Network interface 862 encompasses wired and/or wireless
communication networks, such as local-area networks (LAN),
wide-area networks (WAN), and cellular networks. LAN technologies
may include Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI), Copper
Distributed Data Interface (CDDI), Ethernet, Token Ring, and/or the
like. WAN technologies include point-to-point links, circuit
switching networks (e.g., Integrated Services Digital networks
(ISDN) and variations thereon), packet switching networks, and
Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL).
[0097] Codec 830 may include an encoder, a decoder, or both,
comprising hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and
software. Codec 830 may include any suitable device and/or software
configured to encode, compress, and/or encrypt a data stream or
signal for transmission and storage, and to decode the data stream
or signal by decoding, decompressing, and/or decrypting the data
stream or signal (e.g., for playback or editing of a video).
Although codec 830 is depicted as a separate component, codec 830
may be contained or implemented in memory, e.g., non-volatile
memory 842.
[0098] Non-volatile memory 842 may include read only memory (ROM),
programmable ROM (PROM), electrically programmable ROM (EPROM),
electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory,
and/or the like, or any combination of these. Volatile memory 840
may include random access memory (RAM), which may act as external
cache memory. RAM may comprise static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM
(DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR
SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), and/or the like, or any
combination of these.
[0099] Instructions for the operating system, applications, and/or
programs may be located in storage devices 816, which are in
communication with processor unit 804 through system bus 802. In
these illustrative examples, the instructions are in a functional
form in persistent storage 808. These instructions may be loaded
into memory 806 for execution by processor unit 804. Processes of
one or more embodiments of the present disclosure may be performed
by processor unit 804 using computer-implemented instructions,
which may be located in a memory, such as memory 806.
[0100] These instructions are referred to as program instructions,
program code, computer usable program code, or computer-readable
program code executed by a processor in processor unit 804. The
program code in the different embodiments may be embodied on
different physical or computer-readable storage media, such as
memory 806 or persistent storage 808. Program code 818 may be
located in a functional form on computer-readable media 820 that is
selectively removable and may be loaded onto or transferred to data
processing system 800 for execution by processor unit 804. Program
code 818 and computer-readable media 820 form computer program
product 822 in these examples. In one example, computer-readable
media 820 may comprise computer-readable storage media 824 or
computer-readable signal media 826.
[0101] Computer-readable storage media 824 may include, for
example, an optical or magnetic disk that is inserted or placed
into a drive or other device that is part of persistent storage 808
for transfer onto a storage device, such as a hard drive, that is
part of persistent storage 808. Computer-readable storage media 824
also may take the form of a persistent storage, such as a hard
drive, a thumb drive, or a flash memory, that is connected to data
processing system 800. In some instances, computer-readable storage
media 824 may not be removable from data processing system 800.
[0102] In these examples, computer-readable storage media 824 is a
non-transitory, physical or tangible storage device used to store
program code 818 rather than a medium that propagates or transmits
program code 818. Computer-readable storage media 824 is also
referred to as a computer-readable tangible storage device or a
computer-readable physical storage device. In other words,
computer-readable storage media 824 is media that can be touched by
a person.
[0103] Alternatively, program code 818 may be transferred to data
processing system 800, e.g., remotely over a network, using
computer-readable signal media 826. Computer-readable signal media
826 may be, for example, a propagated data signal containing
program code 818. For example, computer-readable signal media 826
may be an electromagnetic signal, an optical signal, and/or any
other suitable type of signal. These signals may be transmitted
over communications links, such as wireless communications links,
optical fiber cable, coaxial cable, a wire, and/or any other
suitable type of communications link. In other words, the
communications link and/or the connection may be physical or
wireless in the illustrative examples.
[0104] In some illustrative embodiments, program code 818 may be
downloaded over a network to persistent storage 808 from another
device or data processing system through computer-readable signal
media 826 for use within data processing system 800. For instance,
program code stored in a computer-readable storage medium in a
server data processing system may be downloaded over a network from
the server to data processing system 800. The computer providing
program code 818 may be a server computer, a client computer, or
some other device capable of storing and transmitting program code
818.
[0105] In some examples, program code 818 may comprise an operating
system (OS) 850. Operating system 850, which may be stored on
persistent storage 808, controls and allocates resources of data
processing system 800. One or more applications 852 take advantage
of the operating system's management of resources via program
modules 854, and program data 856 stored on storage devices 816. OS
850 may include any suitable software system configured to manage
and expose hardware resources of computer 800 for sharing and use
by applications 852. In some examples, OS 850 provides application
programming interfaces (APIs) that facilitate connection of
different type of hardware and/or provide applications 852 access
to hardware and OS services. In some examples, certain applications
852 may provide further services for use by other applications 852,
e.g., as is the case with so-called "middleware." Aspects of
present disclosure may be implemented with respect to various
operating systems or combinations of operating systems.
[0106] The different components illustrated for data processing
system 800 are not meant to provide architectural limitations to
the manner in which different embodiments may be implemented. One
or more embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in
a data processing system that includes fewer components or includes
components in addition to and/or in place of those illustrated for
computer 800. Other components shown in FIG. 10 can be varied from
the examples depicted. Different embodiments may be implemented
using any hardware device or system capable of running program
code. As one example, data processing system 800 may include
organic components integrated with inorganic components and/or may
be comprised entirely of organic components (excluding a human
being). For example, a storage device may be comprised of an
organic semiconductor.
[0107] In some examples, processor unit 804 may take the form of a
hardware unit having hardware circuits that are specifically
manufactured or configured for a particular use, or to produce a
particular outcome or progress. This type of hardware may perform
operations without needing program code 818 to be loaded into a
memory from a storage device to be configured to perform the
operations. For example, processor unit 804 may be a circuit
system, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a
programmable logic device, or some other suitable type of hardware
configured (e.g., preconfigured or reconfigured) to perform a
number of operations. With a programmable logic device, for
example, the device is configured to perform the number of
operations and may be reconfigured at a later time. Examples of
programmable logic devices include, a programmable logic array, a
field programmable logic array, a field programmable gate array
(FPGA), and other suitable hardware devices. With this type of
implementation, executable instructions (e.g., program code 818)
may be implemented as hardware, e.g., by specifying an FPGA
configuration using a hardware description language (HDL) and then
using a resulting binary file to (re)configure the FPGA.
[0108] In another example, data processing system 800 may be
implemented as an FPGA-based (or in some cases ASIC-based),
dedicated-purpose set of state machines (e.g., Finite State
Machines (FSM)), which may allow critical tasks to be isolated and
run on custom hardware. Whereas a processor such as a CPU can be
described as a shared-use, general purpose state machine that
executes instructions provided to it, FPGA-based state machine(s)
are constructed for a special purpose, and may execute
hardware-coded logic without sharing resources. Such systems are
often utilized for safety-related and mission-critical tasks.
[0109] In still another illustrative example, processor unit 804
may be implemented using a combination of processors found in
computers and hardware units. Processor unit 804 may have a number
of hardware units and a number of processors that are configured to
run program code 818. With this depicted example, some of the
processes may be implemented in the number of hardware units, while
other processes may be implemented in the number of processors.
[0110] In another example, system bus 802 may comprise one or more
buses, such as a system bus or an input/output bus. Of course, the
bus system may be implemented using any suitable type of
architecture that provides for a transfer of data between different
components or devices attached to the bus system. System bus 802
may include several types of bus structure(s) including memory bus
or memory controller, a peripheral bus or external bus, and/or a
local bus using any variety of available bus architectures (e.g.,
Industrial Standard Architecture (ISA), Micro-Channel Architecture
(MSA), Extended ISA (EISA), Intelligent Drive Electronics (IDE),
VESA Local Bus (VLB), Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), Card
Bus, Universal Serial Bus (USB), Advanced Graphics Port (AGP),
Personal Computer Memory Card International Association bus
(PCMCIA), Firewire (IEEE 1394), and Small Computer Systems
Interface (SCSI)).
[0111] Additionally, communications unit 810 may include a number
of devices that transmit data, receive data, or both transmit and
receive data. Communications unit 810 may be, for example, a modem
or a network adapter, two network adapters, or some combination
thereof. Further, a memory may be, for example, memory 806, or a
cache, such as that found in an interface and memory controller hub
that may be present in system bus 802.
[0112] The flowcharts and block diagrams described herein
illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of
possible implementations of systems, methods, and computer program
products according to various illustrative embodiments. In this
regard, each block in the flowcharts or block diagrams may
represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises
one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified
logical function or functions. It should also be noted that, in
some alternative implementations, the functions noted in a block
may occur out of the order noted in the drawings. For example, the
functions of two blocks shown in succession may be executed
substantially concurrently, or the functions of the blocks may
sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the
functionality involved.
D. Illustrative Distributed Data Processing System
[0113] As shown in FIG. 11, this example describes a general
network data processing system 900, interchangeably termed a
computer network, a network system, a distributed data processing
system, or a distributed network, aspects of which may be included
in one or more illustrative embodiments of the real-time metocean
sensor array system described herein. For example, cloud or network
22 may be an example of a distributed data processing system.
[0114] It should be appreciated that FIG. 11 is provided as an
illustration of one implementation and is not intended to imply any
limitation with regard to environments in which different
embodiments may be implemented. Many modifications to the depicted
environment may be made.
[0115] Network system 900 is a network of devices (e.g.,
computers), each of which may be an example of data processing
system 800, and other components. Network data processing system
900 may include network 902, which is a medium configured to
provide communications links between various devices and computers
connected within network data processing system 900. Network 902
may include connections such as wired or wireless communication
links, fiber optic cables, and/or any other suitable medium for
transmitting and/or communicating data between network devices, or
any combination thereof.
[0116] In the depicted example, a first network device 904 and a
second network device 906 connect to network 902, as do one or more
computer-readable memories or storage devices 908. Network devices
904 and 906 are each examples of data processing system 800,
described above. In the depicted example, devices 904 and 906 are
shown as server computers, which are in communication with one or
more server data store(s) 922 that may be employed to store
information local to server computers 904 and 906, among others.
However, network devices may include, without limitation, one or
more personal computers, mobile computing devices such as personal
digital assistants (PDAs), tablets, and smartphones, handheld
gaming devices, wearable devices, tablet computers, routers,
switches, voice gates, servers, electronic storage devices, imaging
devices, media players, and/or other networked-enabled tools that
may perform a mechanical or other function. These network devices
may be interconnected through wired, wireless, optical, and other
appropriate communication links.
[0117] In addition, client electronic devices 910 and 912 and/or a
client smart device 914, may connect to network 902. Each of these
devices is an example of data processing system 800, described
above regarding FIG. 8. Client electronic devices 910, 912, and 914
may include, for example, one or more personal computers, network
computers, and/or mobile computing devices such as personal digital
assistants (PDAs), smart phones, handheld gaming devices, wearable
devices, and/or tablet computers, and the like. In the depicted
example, server 904 provides information, such as boot files,
operating system images, and applications to one or more of client
electronic devices 910, 912, and 914. Client electronic devices
910, 912, and 914 may be referred to as "clients" in the context of
their relationship to a server such as server computer 904. Client
devices may be in communication with one or more client data
store(s) 920, which may be employed to store information local to
the clients (e,g., cookie(s) and/or associated contextual
information). Network data processing system 900 may include more
or fewer servers and/or clients (or no servers or clients), as well
as other devices not shown.
[0118] In some examples, first client electric device 910 may
transfer an encoded file to server 904. Server 904 can store the
file, decode the file, and/or transmit the file to second client
electric device 912. In some examples, first client electric device
910 may transfer an uncompressed file to server 904 and server 904
may compress the file. In some examples, server 904 may encode
text, audio, and/or video information, and transmit the information
via network 902 to one or more clients.
[0119] Client smart device 914 may include any suitable portable
electronic device capable of wireless communications and execution
of software, such as a smartphone or a tablet. Generally speaking,
the term "smartphone" may describe any suitable portable electronic
device configured to perform functions of a computer, typically
having a touchscreen interface, Internet access, and an operating
system capable of running downloaded applications. In addition to
making phone calls (e.g., over a cellular network), smartphones may
be capable of sending and receiving emails, texts, and multimedia
messages, accessing the Internet, and/or functioning as a web
browser. Smart devices (e.g., smartphones) may also include
features of other known electronic devices, such as a media player,
personal digital assistant, digital camera, video camera, and/or
global positioning system. Smart devices (e.g., smartphones) may be
capable of connecting with other smart devices, computers, or
electronic devices wirelessly, such as through near field
communications (NFC), Bluetooth.RTM., WiFi, or mobile broadband
networks. Wireless connectively may be established among smart
devices, smartphones, computers, and/or other devices to form a
mobile network where information can be exchanged.
[0120] Data and program code located in system 900 may be stored in
or on a computer-readable storage medium, such as network-connected
storage device 908 and/or a persistent storage 808 of one of the
network computers, as described above, and may be downloaded to a
data processing system or other device for use. For example,
program code may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium on
server computer 904 and downloaded to client 910 over network 902,
for use on client 910. In some examples, client data store 920 and
server data store 922 reside on one or more storage devices 908
and/or 808.
[0121] Network data processing system 900 may be implemented as one
or more of different types of networks. For example, system 900 may
include an intranet, a local area network (LAN), a wide area
network (WAN), or a personal area network (PAN). In some examples,
network data processing system 900 includes the Internet, with
network 902 representing a worldwide collection of networks and
gateways that use the transmission control protocol/Internet
protocol (TCP/IP) suite of protocols to communicate with one
another. At the heart of the Internet is a backbone of high-speed
data communication lines between major nodes or host computers.
Thousands of commercial, governmental, educational and other
computer systems may be utilized to route data and messages. In
some examples, network 902 may be referred to as a "cloud." In
those examples, each server 904 may be referred to as a cloud
computing node, and client electronic devices may be referred to as
cloud consumers, or the like. FIG. 11 is intended as an example,
and not as an architectural limitation for any illustrative
embodiments.
E. Illustrative Combinations and Additional Examples
[0122] This section describes additional aspects and features of
real-time metocean sensor arrays, presented without limitation as a
series of paragraphs, some or all of which may be alphanumerically
designated for clarity and efficiency. Each of these paragraphs can
be combined with one or more other paragraphs, and/or with
disclosure from elsewhere in this application, including the
materials incorporated by reference in the Cross-References, in any
suitable manner. Some of the paragraphs below expressly refer to
and further limit other paragraphs, providing without limitation
examples of some of the suitable combinations.
[0123] A0. A floatable metocean instrument comprising:
[0124] a hull having a central cavity, the hull including: [0125] a
symmetrical lower portion extending downward from a midsection of
the hull, configured to be submerged when the instrument is
deployed in a body of water and to provide a uniform directional
response to surface currents and surface waves, and [0126] a
polygonal upper portion extending upward from the midsection of the
hull and including a plurality of ribs extending upward from the
mid-section to define a plurality of substantially planar angled
faces;
[0127] a plurality of solar panels, each disposed on one of the
angled faces of the hull;
[0128] an electronics box removably disposed within the central
cavity of the hull, the electronics box having a body portion
defining an interior enclosure which contains: [0129] a GPS
receiver, [0130] a satellite transceiver, and [0131] a power
regulating circuit configured to charge a battery using energy
collected by the solar panels; and [0132] a battery configured to
receive power from the power regulating circuit and to supply power
to the GPS receiver and the satellite transceiver;
[0133] wherein the GPS receiver is configured to measure positions
of the instrument in real time, and the satellite transceiver is
configured to transmit information based on the positions of the
instrument to a satellite.
[0134] A1. The instrument of paragraph A0, wherein the upper
portion of the hull is pentagonal and includes exactly five
substantially planar angled faces.
[0135] A2. The instrument of any of paragraphs A0 through A1,
wherein the electronics box further contains an inertial
measurement unit (IMU) configured to collect motion data, and a
digital signal processor configured to use the motion data
collected by the IMU to correct measurements made by the GPS
receiver.
[0136] A3. The instrument of any of paragraphs A0 through A2,
wherein the upper portion of the hull includes a clamping ring, and
wherein the electronics box is suspended from the clamping ring
into the central cavity of the hull.
[0137] A4. The instrument of paragraph A3, wherein the clamping
ring comprises a perimetric flange configured to clamp an upper
edge of each of the solar panels against the hull when the clamping
ring is fastened to the hull.
[0138] A5. The instrument of any of paragraphs A0 through A4,
wherein the electronics box further contains processing logic
configured to receive data collected by the GPS receiver and to
transform the data into wave and current information, and wherein
the satellite transceiver is configured to transmit the wave and
current information to the satellite.
[0139] A6. The instrument of any of paragraphs A0 through A5,
wherein the lower portion of the hull includes a planar bottom
surface.
[0140] A7. The instrument of any of paragraphs A0 through A6,
wherein the electronics box includes a lid portion containing an
integrated user interaction panel, and wherein the user interaction
panel includes a power switch, a wired communications port, a
memory slot, at least one status indicator light, and a charging
port.
[0141] A8. The instrument of paragraph A7, wherein the lid portion
further contains a visibility strobe.
[0142] A9. The instrument of paragraph A8, further comprising a
transparent cover attached to the upper portion of the hull and
covering the lid portion of the electronics box, the transparent
cover including a refractive light pipe configured to scatter light
produced by the visibility strobe.
[0143] A10. The instrument of any of paragraphs A0 through A9,
wherein the angled faces of the hull are oriented approximately
thirty to approximately sixty degrees with respect to a horizontal
plane.
[0144] A11. The instrument of any of paragraphs A0 through A10, the
midsection of the instrument further comprising a polygonal
perimetric flange, wherein a handle is formed by an opening passing
through the hull adjacent a corner of the perimetric midsection
flange.
[0145] B0. A system for collecting and analyzing metocean data,
comprising:
[0146] an instrument according to any of the previous numbered
paragraphs;
[0147] a computer server configured to receive the information sent
to the satellite by the satellite transceiver and to store the
information; and
[0148] a computer software application configured to access
information stored on the computer server and to make the
information stored on the computer server available to a user
through a graphical user interface.
[0149] B1. The system of paragraph B0, wherein the satellite
transceiver is configured to transmit information regarding at
least one setting of the instrument to the satellite.
[0150] B2. The system of paragraph B1, wherein the satellite
transceiver is configured to receive instructions to change a
setting of the instrument from the satellite and to transmit the
instructions to the instrument.
[0151] B3. The system of paragraph B2, wherein the instrument
includes a digital signal processor configured to control settings
of the instrument based on instructions received from the satellite
transceiver.
[0152] B4. The system of paragraph B2, wherein the computer
software application is configured to display the setting to the
user, receive instructions to change the setting from the user, and
transmit the instructions to the server, and wherein the server is
configured to transmit the instructions to the satellite.
[0153] B5. The system of any of paragraphs B0 through B4, wherein
the computer software application is configured to generate a
real-time alert and to display the alert on the graphical user
interface, if user-defined conditions of the instrument are
exceeded.
[0154] C0. A method of collecting and viewing ocean wave and
current information, comprising:
[0155] deploying an instrument according to any of the preceding
numbered paragraphs;
[0156] transmitting information based on position data collected by
the instrument to a satellite;
[0157] transmitting the information from the satellite to a
computer server; and
[0158] providing a computer software application configured to
access information stored on the server and to make the information
stored on the server available to a user through a graphical user
interface.
[0159] C1. The method of paragraph C0, further comprising:
[0160] receiving instructions from the user through the graphical
user interface to change a setting of the instrument;
[0161] transmitting the instructions received through the graphical
user interface to the computer server;
[0162] transmitting the instructions from the computer server to
the satellite;
[0163] transmitting the instructions from the satellite to the
instrument; and
[0164] changing a setting of the instrument based on the
instructions received from the satellite.
[0165] C2. The method of any of paragraphs C0 through C1, further
comprising alerting the user through the graphical user interface
if user-defined conditions of the instrument are exceeded.
[0166] C3. The method of any of paragraphs C0 through C2, further
comprising storing information based on position data collected by
the instrument on a digital memory device disposed within the
instrument, retrieving the stored information, and transmitting the
stored information to the computer server.
[0167] D0. A method of determining metocean characteristics of a
body of water, the method comprising:
[0168] establishing remote communication with a plurality of
floating metocean sensor units deployed in a body of water, each of
the floating metocean sensor units including a hull having an
attached hydrophone and enclosing processing logic in communication
with the hydrophone and an onboard geolocation device;
[0169] receiving wave information from each of the sensor units
based on motion of the sensor unit as determined by the respective
geolocation device; and
[0170] receiving wind information from each of the sensor units
based on the wave information and a measurement of underwater sound
using the hydrophone.
[0171] D1. The method of D0, wherein establishing remote
communication comprises communication via a satellite communication
network.
[0172] D2. The method of any of paragraphs D0 through D1, wherein
each of the floating metocean sensor units has an axially symmetric
lower portion and a frusto-pyramidal upper portion.
[0173] D3. The method of D2, wherein a plurality of solar panels
are attached to the upper portion of the hull.
[0174] D4. The method of D2, wherein the lower portion is
substantially spherical.
[0175] D5. The method of any of paragraphs D0 through D4, wherein
each of the sensor units is free floating in the body of water.
[0176] D6. The method of any of paragraphs D0 through D5, wherein
the attached hydrophone is internal to the hull.
[0177] D7. The method of any of paragraphs D0 through D6, wherein
the attached hydrophone is tethered to the hull.
[0178] D8. The method of D7, wherein a tether of the hydrophone is
retractable into the hull.
[0179] E0. A buoyant metocean sensor unit comprising:
[0180] a hull having a hemispherical lower portion, a
frusto-pyramidal upper portion, and an inner cavity, a plurality of
solar panels coupled to respective flat faces of the upper
portion;
[0181] an electronics enclosure mounted in the inner cavity of the
hull, the electronics enclosure housing processing logic and a
global positioning system (GPS) receiver;
[0182] a rechargeable battery coupled to the electronics enclosure
and configured to be recharged by the solar panels; and
[0183] a hydrophone coupled to the hull;
[0184] wherein the processing logic is configured to: [0185]
receive acoustic data from the hydrophone and motion data from the
GPS receiver; [0186] determine local wave characteristics based on
the motion data; and [0187] determine, using a trained neural
network, local wind characteristics based on the motion data and
the acoustic data.
[0188] E1. The sensor unit of E0, wherein the trained neural
network is configured to combine an acoustic-based wind speed
estimate with a wave motion-based wind speed estimate.
[0189] E2. The sensor unit of any of paragraphs E0 through E1,
wherein the trained neural network is configured to infer wind
speed based only on the acoustic and motion data.
[0190] E3. The sensor unit of any of paragraphs E0 through E2,
further comprising an inertial measurement unit (IMU) housed in the
electronics enclosure.
[0191] E4. The sensor unit of E3, wherein the processing logic is
further configured to correct the motion data using input from the
IMU.
[0192] E5. The sensor unit of any of paragraphs E0 through E4,
wherein the processing logic is further configured to determine
local current characteristics based on the motion data.
[0193] E6. The sensor unit of any of paragraphs E0 through E5,
wherein the hydrophone is omnidirectional.
[0194] E7. The sensor unit of any of paragraphs E0 through E6,
wherein the hull is free-floating in a body of water.
[0195] E8. The sensor unit of any of paragraphs E0 through E7,
wherein the hull is tethered to a floor of the body of water.
[0196] E9. The sensor unit of any of paragraphs E0 through E8,
wherein the hydrophone is coupled to the hull by a cable.
[0197] E10. The sensor unit of any of paragraphs E0 through E9,
wherein the hydrophone is contained within the hull.
[0198] E11. The sensor unit of any of paragraphs E0 through E10,
further comprising a perimetral flange disposed between the upper
portion of the hull and the lower portion of the hull.
[0199] E12. The sensor unit of E11, wherein the perimetral flange
is polygonal.
[0200] E13. The sensor unit of E11, wherein a portion of the
perimetral flange comprises a handle.
[0201] E14. The sensor unit of any of paragraphs E0 through E13,
further comprising an upper clamp ring configured to clamp upper
ends of each of the solar panels against the hull when the upper
clamp ring is fastened to the hull.
[0202] E15. The sensor unit of E14, wherein the upper clamp ring
further comprises a central aperture configured to support the
electronics enclosure suspended within the inner cavity of the
hull.
[0203] E16. The sensor unit of any of paragraphs E0 through E15,
further comprising a transceiver configured to transmit information
corresponding to the local wave characteristics and the local wind
characteristics to a server using a wireless network.
[0204] E17. The sensor system of E16, wherein the wireless network
comprises the Iridium satellite constellation.
[0205] F0. A buoyant metocean sensor unit comprising: a hull having
an inner cavity; processing logic and a displacement sensor
disposed in the inner cavity of the hull; and a hydrophone coupled
to the hull; wherein the processing logic is configured to: receive
acoustic data from the hydrophone and motion data from the
displacement sensor; determine local wave characteristics based on
the motion data; and determine, using a trained neural network,
local wind characteristics based on the motion data and the
acoustic data.
[0206] F1. The sensor unit of F0, wherein the trained neural
network is configured to combine an acoustic-based wind speed
estimate with a wave motion-based wind speed estimate.
[0207] F2. The sensor unit of any of paragraphs F0 through F1,
wherein the displacement sensor comprises an inertial measurement
unit (IMU).
[0208] F3. The sensor unit of any of paragraphs F0 through F2,
wherein the displacement sensor comprises a global positioning
system (GPS) receiver.
[0209] F4. The sensor unit of any of paragraphs F0 through F3,
wherein the displacement sensor is a global positioning system
(GPS) receiver, and further comprising an inertial measurement unit
(IMU), wherein the processing logic is configured to correct the
motion data received from the GPS receiver using input from the
IMU.
[0210] F5. The sensor unit of any of paragraphs F0 through F4,
wherein the hydrophone is coupled to the hull by a cable, such that
the hydrophone is configured to be disposed approximately two
meters below a surface of a body of water when the sensor unit is
floating freely on the surface.
[0211] F6. The sensor unit of any of paragraphs F0 through F5,
further comprising a rechargeable battery and a plurality of solar
panels coupled to the hull, wherein the battery is configured to be
recharged by the solar panels.
[0212] F7. The sensor unit of F6, wherein the hull has a
frusto-pyramidal upper portion, and the solar panels are coupled to
respective flat faces of the upper portion.
[0213] G0. A method of determining metocean characteristics of a
body of water, the method comprising: establishing remote
communication with a plurality of floating metocean sensor units
deployed in a body of water, each of the floating metocean sensor
units including a hull having an attached hydrophone and enclosing
processing logic in communication with the hydrophone and an
onboard displacement sensor; receiving wave information from each
of the sensor units based on motion of the sensor unit as
determined by the displacement sensor; and receiving wind
information from each of the sensor units based on the wave
information and a measurement of underwater sound using the
hydrophone.
[0214] G1. The method of G0, wherein establishing remote
communication comprises communication via a satellite communication
network.
[0215] G2. The method of any of paragraphs G0 through G1, wherein
the displacement sensor comprises a global positioning system (GPS)
receiver.
[0216] G3. The method of any of paragraphs G0 through G2, wherein
the displacement sensor comprises an inertial measurement unit
(IMU).
[0217] G4. The method of any of paragraphs G0 through G3, further
comprising changing a parameter of at least one of the sensor units
from a remote location.
Advantages, Features, and Benefits
[0218] The different embodiments and examples of the real-time
metocean sensor arrays and related methods described herein provide
several advantages over known solutions. For example, illustrative
embodiments and examples described herein are low-cost, easy to
use, and solar-powered, making a global network of connected wave
sensors possible.
[0219] Additionally, and among other benefits, illustrative
embodiments and examples described herein include an upper clamp
ring for securing solar panels, such that the number of screw
attachments penetrating the hull is reduced and makes the sensor
unit is easier and faster to assemble.
[0220] Additionally, and among other benefits, illustrative
embodiments and examples described herein allow the sensor unit to
be activated and/or deactivated using a handheld magnet, such that
the waterproof barrier need not be compromised for this
operation.
[0221] Additionally, and among other benefits, illustrative
embodiments and examples described herein use a refractive
lightpipe, which enables the use of a board-mounted LED for the
visibility light. This is a very robust and low-cost solution to
provide a signaling light on the instrument.
[0222] Additionally, and among other benefits, illustrative
embodiments and examples described herein include one or more
integrated handles for facilitating manual handling of the compact
devices.
[0223] Additionally, and among other benefits, illustrative
embodiments and examples described herein permit accurate in-situ
measurement and monitoring of wind information.
[0224] Additionally, and among other benefits, illustrative
embodiments and examples described herein permit in-situ
measurement and monitoring of wind information collocated on a
device also measuring in-situ wave and/or current information.
[0225] Additionally, and among other benefits, illustrative
embodiments and examples described herein include interchangeable,
modular electronics enclosures having different features, e.g.,
different communications packages.
[0226] Additionally, and among other benefits, illustrative
embodiments and examples described herein include one or more of
the following advantages: [0227] Low cost allows for new types of
deployment, empowers new user groups [0228] Integrated platform
allows for remote access and ease of communication with the device,
anywhere, any time. The two-way communication between the
Web-enabled interface and the instrument enables on-the-fly changes
in data transmissions, alerts, and device settings when the device
is anywhere in the world. [0229] Optimized solar panel array allows
for indefinite and continuous deployment without need for
servicing, lowering the cost of operation as compared to known
solutions. [0230] Data acquisition system maintains excellent
accuracy of ocean wave observations when the instrument drifts in
strong currents. Existing buoy system makers specifically warn
against drifting at high speeds, as it is known to create errors in
the data for those systems. Accordingly, the low-pass filtering
method described above permits sensor units of the present
disclosure to handle high drift speeds where others cannot. [0231]
Lightweight portability allows for system to be deployed by hand
from any type of boat. [0232] Flat bottom design allows the device
to rest on a flat surface such as a tabletop or boat deck without
needing separate supports. [0233] Position updates are integrated
to enable real-time tracking, proximity warnings, and geofencing.
[0234] Integration of the device with online back and front ends
allows for real-time updates and messaging on ocean conditions as
they occur. [0235] Externally mounted solar panels allow water and
air to clean and cool the panels automatically, and simplifies the
design. [0236] May be constructed of all marine-grade plastic
parts, which can be mass-produced, are low-cost, and extremely
durable to the marine environment (e.g., no rust). [0237]
Externally visible user interface provides system status feedback
prior to and during deployments. [0238] The complete user
interaction panel (containing connector, SD card, LEDs etc.) is
upward facing so the user does not need to disassemble the
instrument in order to download data, pre-charge battery, or
otherwise interact with it (turn off, firmware upgrade etc.).
Simple removal of the cover provides access.
[0239] No known system or device can perform these functions.
However, not all embodiments and examples described herein provide
the same advantages or the same degree of advantage.
CONCLUSION
[0240] The disclosure set forth above may encompass multiple
distinct examples with independent utility. Although each of these
has been disclosed in its preferred form(s), the specific
embodiments thereof as disclosed and illustrated herein are not to
be considered in a limiting sense, because numerous variations are
possible. To the extent that section headings are used within this
disclosure, such headings are for organizational purposes only. The
subject matter of the disclosure includes all novel and nonobvious
combinations and subcombinations of the various elements, features,
functions, and/or properties disclosed herein. The following claims
particularly point out certain combinations and subcombinations
regarded as novel and nonobvious. Other combinations and
subcombinations of features, functions, elements, and/or properties
may be claimed in applications claiming priority from this or a
related application. Such claims, whether broader, narrower, equal,
or different in scope to the original claims, also are regarded as
included within the subject matter of the present disclosure.
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