LSTS - Missions

LSTS at Funchal

marina — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 00:00:00 +0000

LSTS at Funchal

01 Dec 2014

Missions

On the week 10 to 15 November a team of four people from LSTS went to Funchal (Madeira) for a demonstration of the current operational capabilities.

This initiative was brought with the aim of presenting the underwater robotic vehicles and theirs potentiality in surveying and data collection in port and coastal environments.

An anchor lost by a ship in the anchorage site outside the port two weeks before was found using side scan imagery and confirmed via HD underwater pictures also taken by the AUVs. The anchor position was given to local authorities for future recover.

Environmental data was collected, in particular temperature and salinity, in order to better characterize the local coastal oceanographic dynamics.

A drifter was deployed to figure the surface coastal currents surrounding the south east part of the island.

The demonstration was possible due to the coordination with the local Center CIIMAR-Madeira in collaboration with APRAM and the Portuguese Navy.

More picture at Facebook or Google+

News reference:
Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

LSTS and MBARI field deployments in Monterey Bay, California October 2013

marina — Thu, 07 Nov 2013 14:56:31 +0000

LSTS and MBARI field deployments in Monterey Bay, California October 2013

07 Nov 2013

Missions

October 7th through the 18th, researchers from LSTS visited MBARI to participate in CANON (http://www.mbari.org/canon/default.htm) field experiments. Significantly this involved an LSTS Xtreme 2 AUV and associated communication gear being deployed in near shore waters in Monterey Bay along with other assets including ships and AUVs from MBARI. There were a number of objectives for this visit and experimentation:

1.     to participate and understand the scope, extant, design and intent of scientific upper water-column surveys for participating scientists from MBARI and elsewhere
2.     to demonstrate LSTS tools, techniques and processes (operational and technical) to MBARI personnel in robust and agile AUV operations
3.     to ensure continuous operations of AUV Xtreme 2 using the T-REX onboard controller
4.     joint testing with the MBARI Autonomous systems group towards coordination of AUVs with an MBARI owned Liquid Robotics WaveGlider carrying wireless hotspot capabilities necessary for the May 2014 Mola tagging experiment. The hotspot was built at MBARI, based on a reference design from LSTS's Manta gateway

All three objectives were fulfilled with successive Xtreme 2 AUV deployments from a small boat, the R/V Paragon and MBARI's Dorado AUV from the large support vessel R/V Rachel Carson. A significant outcome was related to the third objective coupled with the fourth, in which multiple deployments for 6-7 hours were undertaken where upper water-column surveys with captured Temperature data from the Xtreme's CTD were dumped onto the MBARI WaveGlider which in turn sent them to shore for archival and analysis within the ODSS (https://odss.mbari.org/odss/) the Oceanographic Decision Support System.

Further, the demonstrations showed how two AUVs in near proximity could maneuver and send their respective data to the WaveGlider. This involved ensuring that the respective AUV surveys were spatially separated and that each vessel was aware of the operating constraints and area of the other without significant communication overhead. Weather also played a role with a couple of days of washout with rough seas where the R/V Paragon was unable to go to sea.

A second clear outcome was the operational readiness of the use of T-REX on the Xtreme for continuous water-column surveys both along a static and a moving centroid. This demonstrates for the first time that the AUV will be in a position to track tagged Mola's in the planned May 2014 experiment in the Algarve.

A final outcome of this deployment was the demonstration of the advanced software tools for mission planning and control to MBARI researchers. An informal talk by Joao Sousa with Jose Pinto demonstrating Neptus caught the attention of a number of science and engineering personnel. A second and more through demonstration elicited substantial response from the MBARI community which hopes to leverage the Neptus tool set for their own operations.

Breaking the Surface 2013

marina — Tue, 15 Oct 2013 14:20:20 +0000

Breaking the Surface 2013

15 Oct 2013

Missions

A couple of weeks ago we went to the Breaking the Surface workshop, in the beautiful island of Murter, in Croatia.
This year we opened a new chapter in BtS, bringing the first aerial system demonstration.

During the preparation flights we got some interesting aerial images of Podvrške.

Even though the wind was quite strong we performed a safe flight and were able to show the participants how to operate our system.

At the end, we had some time to give a small explanation on how this vehicle was put together.

Thank you for the invitation, and see you next year! Hvala!

Ireland - Day 4 (Exercise and Debriefing)

marina — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 16:15:30 +0000

Ireland - Day 4 (Exercise and Debriefing)

18 Apr 2013

Missions

Thursday, April 18th

The last day of the Exercise was not much different for us (UAV team), once again we were unable to fly due to the strong winds in the area.
During the afternoon we attended the debriefing session at the Moneypoint Power Station.

Ireland - Shannon Exercise

marina — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 16:07:53 +0000

Ireland - Shannon Exercise

17 Apr 2013

Missions

In our recent mission in the Shannon river, the AUV had the goal to demonstrate the ability to find barrels lost from a grounded vessel.
For this we operated from an Irish Navy ship (Le Orla) that offered Rhib support for our 3 man team.

We were able to identify the target in our side-scan analyser the first time we scouted the area. It was too muddy for photos but we were able to verify the position with additional swipes over the vehicle.

For this mission, an important feature on the Neptus console was AIS, SPOT and GPS devices exhibition on the map alongside the vehicles, acoustic beacons, tagged locations, etc.

The operation was a success!

Ireland - Day 3 (Exercise)

marina — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 16:05:53 +0000

Ireland - Day 3 (Exercise)

17 Apr 2013

Missions

Wednesday, April 17th

Today was the first day of the real Exercise.
The AUV team boarded the LÉ Orla very early, and we (the UAV team) stay on shore, hoping to find a window of oportunity to fly the X8.

At the same location another team was deploying their UAV (Fulmar):

The weather was not kind to us, so once again we were not able to fly...
However, we heard from the AUV team that their mission was a big success (more on that to come)!

Ireland - Day 2 (Tests)

marina — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 15:46:16 +0000

Ireland - Day 2 (Tests)

16 Apr 2013

Missions

Tuesday, April 16th

As the wind continued to blow very strong, UAV flights were canceled for the day.
With that decided, the UAV team assisted the AUV team with their tests onboard the LÉ Orla, an Irish Navy vessel.
As you can see, safety is a main concern!

The AUV mission was a success, even if some people got wetter than expected...

Ireland - Day 1 (Tests)

marina — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 15:18:55 +0000

Ireland - Day 1 (Tests)

15 Apr 2013

Missions

Monday, April 15th

Today was the first preparation day for the Shannon Estuary Exercise.
The AUV team did some tests at the Kilrush Marina to make sure everything would run smoothly regarding communications.

Meanwhile, the weather wasn't good enough for the UAV to fly, so we just took a look at the deployment area.

LSTS at Cartagena AUV 2011 Experiment

marina — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0000

LSTS at Cartagena AUV 2011 Experiment

07 Nov 2011

Missions

Experiment held in the Mar Menor lagoon area, near Cartagena, Spain to understand the capacity of the lagoon as a biological buffer and to understand the exchange of water between the Mediterranean Sea and the lagoon.

LSTS - Missions

LSTS at Funchal

LSTS at Funchal

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LSTS and MBARI field deployments in Monterey Bay, California October 2013

LSTS and MBARI field deployments in Monterey Bay, California October 2013

Tags:

Breaking the Surface 2013

Breaking the Surface 2013

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Ireland - Day 4 (Exercise and Debriefing)

Ireland - Day 4 (Exercise and Debriefing)

Tags:

Ireland - Shannon Exercise

Ireland - Shannon Exercise

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Ireland - Day 3 (Exercise)

Ireland - Day 3 (Exercise)

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Ireland - Day 2 (Tests)

Ireland - Day 2 (Tests)

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Ireland - Day 1 (Tests)

Ireland - Day 1 (Tests)

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LSTS at Cartagena AUV 2011 Experiment

LSTS at Cartagena AUV 2011 Experiment