Nortek has collaborated with iRobot Corp. to develop a modified compact acoustic Doppler current profiler for the iRobot 1KA Seaglider Unmanned Underwater Vehicle.
The development, which took place over the course of the past year, has resulted in the testing of a small, light weight and low-power consuming current profiler with the Seaglider platform.
“ Our highly collaborative development effort has resulted in a tightly integrated system that maintains the hydrodynamic properties of Seaglider while still retaining the full features of an advanced current profiler. This capability is attractive to oceanographers and marine biologists who are looking for an in-depth understanding of upper ocean dynamics, including mixing, and the distribution of zooplankton. The project took place in parallel with Nortek’s effort to develop a next generation current profiler, so the timing, along with both teams’ hard work over the past year, was critical in completing this work,” said Atle Lohrmann, CTO and founder of Nortek.
The project is an important milestone for Nortek, and it complements the work done in the past on measuring turbulence with Nortek high resolution current profilers from open ocean moorings and from moored profilers.
The iRobot Seaglider accommodates a variety of sensors and is designed for missions lasting many months and covering thousands of miles. With Nortek’s acoustic Doppler profiler, Seaglider could continuously profile currents throughout the water column during long-range missions. These long-range missions are important because they allow for very cost-effective operations.
The first integrated version of the system will be on display at iRobot’s booth number 60-61 at Oceans 2011, Sept. 19-21 in Kona, Hawaii. Engineers from Nortek will also be on hand to provide guidance on Nortek’s full product line in booth number 57.
[mappress] Source: Nortek , September 19, 2011;