At MTS/IEEE OCEANS’15 in Genoa, EvoLogics presented its latest developments with a mobile demonstration kit that combines underwater LBL (Long Baseline) positioning with the company’s unmanned surface vehicle, the Sonobot.
The Sonobot USV was incorporated into a demonstration setup as a mobile node for LBL calibration and a target for LBL positioning. The Sonobot, primarily a platform for hydrographic surveys, is equipped with accurate DGPS for precise positioning and a WLAN link to the control station on shore.
For sessions in Genoa the Sonobot was interfaced with a towed EvoLogics modem, configured as transponder. The on-shore PC ran EvoLogics SiNAPS navigation and positioning software and connected to the mobile transponder over the Sonobot’s WLAN link. Four EvoLogics S2C acoustic modems in LBL-beacon configuration were deployed as baseline nodes around the perimeter of the demonstration site. Remotely controlled Sonobot was first used to calibrate the positioning system, establishing coordinates of the baseline nodes in absolute coordinates, and then as target for demonstrating the LBL system’s performance, when its position was calculated and displayed by SiNAPS software onshore. The sessions took about one hour to set up and were an overall success.
The results proved that a light USV is beneficial not only for demonstration purposes, but can be integrated into a mobile test bed for implementing new network protocols and evaluating solutions for networks with stationary and mobile nodes.
EvoLogics specializes in underwater acoustic communications, acoustic positioning equipment and innovative solutions for robotics. The company works on integration of mobile and stationary nodes within the framework of the SUNRISE project, focusing on wireless subsea networks to enable cooperation between different underwater devices. SUNRISE, supported by the EU within the 7th Framework Program, aims at creating a web-accessible testing infrastructure that will help researchers implement and test innovative network protocol solutions at a fraction of time and cost required today.
Image: Sonobot and LBL system/EvoLogics
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