Sensors

SCOOT ship days March 2022

CTD, Data, DNA, eDNA, Environmental monitoring, Innovation, Invasive specieses, Platform, R/V Skagerak, Research vessel, Seabed survey, sediment, Sediment sampling / March 21, 2022

On Friday 18 March we ended SCOOT’s ship week for this time. We plan to be back soon, hopefully with AUV Ran. As always we make it our mission to support entrepreneurs, small and medium sized companies, and basically anyone with an interesting idea. This week we made University of Gothenburg’s new research vessel Skagerak available. We could show images of the blue sky and the glittering ocean (yes, we had nice weather), but we would rather show the continuous data acquisition that goes on the inside of Skagerak. The photo above is from the vessel’s FerryBox system, for continuous measurements of surface water. Curious about the data? Get in touch with SCOOT.

Busy week it has been. Methods have ranged from the very established, like vertical profiling using CTD and sediment sampling using box corer, to the emerging (?) standard of sampling water for eDNA, with consultancy SeAnalytics AB.

At the end of the week we tested two prototypes of a simple 3D-printed temperature mini-logger. We made sure to deploy them at the same depth as the intake for the vessels FerryBox. Both SCOOT and the developing company Deepoid AB will be interested to see how well data from the loggers compare with data from the very well calibrated temperature sensor in the FerryBox system.

SCOOT supports innovation

Do you have an idea about how to get or use ocean data? Then SCOOT wants to support you, with ship time and autonomous platforms and robots, with sensors, expertise and networking. Here is what you should do:

  • Contact us. We want to hear about your ideas.
  • Follow us on Twitter, to learn first about our activities and offers.
  • Sign up for our newsletter, where we summarize what goes on at SCOOT.

Seacat 2.0 – Autonomous inspection of marine installations

Acoustic, ASV, Blueview, Demo, GNSS, Innovation, Lidar, multibeam echo sounder, Optical, Platform, Sensors, SP SeaCat, video / January 3, 2022

Seacat has been with us from the start of SCOOT. It has been a nice platform for testing integration of sensors, actuators and software. Seacat also allows us to experiment with tasks for robots in the marine domain. In 2021 we have been looking at automation of inspection/supervision of marine installations. “We” means a broad group of actors (see logos below), where SCOOT has the coordinating role. Last month we recorded a short promotion video to summarize the work.

So, we have integrated a range of sensors above and below the sea-surface, and we have implemented precise navigation close to objects, including in autonomous mode. Now we need to work on the platform specifications: speed, weight, maneuvering, endurance. Then we will have a robot ready for operations in the toughest of environments, the splash zone and close to objects. That is a high risk area where we prefer not to put humans.
Robert Rylander Researcher

More about Seacat

Technology for Marine Citizen Science

Citizen Science, Data, Demo, Fishing vessels, Innovation, Sensors, Ship of opprtunity, Workshop / December 22, 2021

On December 16th SCOOT had invited a passionate group of people to the Kristineberg research station. During an intense and hands on workshop we got demonstrations of new equipment and methods for ocean data acquisition. Not the tools that many professional oceanographers are familiar with, but the kind of technology that open up the field of ocean data collection to many, many more than before. This is citizen science, and there are strong reasons to believe that it will transform marine science. (This workshop was the second event under the banner of Ocean Data for Ocean Health. You may remember the ODOH conference SCOOT co-arranged last year?)

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During the workshop we looked at sensors and at apps that are suitable for a wide range of users, including fishermen, boaters and basically anyone in contact with the ocean.

  • Berring Data Collective demonstrated how local fisheries can put sensors on their gear, collecting data useful both for their own fishery and for oceanographic research.
  • Deepoid AB demonstrated their miniature loggers for ocean currents, temperature and light. Super easy to deploy on a moored line and endurable thanks to low power consumption.
  • Sailing 4 Science showed castaway CTD, an easy-to-use instrument that quickly delivers a vertical profile of temperature and salinity.
  • SMHI presented the app EyeOnWater from MARIS and others. The app allows anyone can upload photos of the sea-surface to help capture the ocean color, an important parameter for determining particle content and presence of algae.
  • Maranics AB presented an app for the project Algal Blooms Sweden, which invites anyone to share images and observations of blooms in the ocean.

New technologies open new opportunities for observing the ocean, that is wonderful… But that does not immediately translate into action, or impact for that matter! We discussed at length how and why broader groups of our society can be engaged in building knowledge about the ocean. Uta Wehn, from University of Gothenburg and IHE Delft, has long experience in this field and led us in the discussion. We were joined online by John Tumpane from Formas, who pointed out that citizen science has an important role in the UN Decade of Ocean Science for a Sustainable Development.

Marine Citizen Science is about co-creating ocean knowledge, it is about a radically more democratic ocean science and ocean governance. Are the current actors in academia and public agencies ready for that?
Uta Wehn Professor of Marine Citizen Science

More about (marine) citizen science

New actors, new ideas, new sensors!

Citizen Science, Innovation, People, Sensors / December 21, 2021

We must get more players into the water, more actors into doing technology for ocean measurements… That is why we started SCOOT and that is why we:

  1. Put resources in the hands of entrepreneurs.
  2. Connect entrepreneurs with new partners from industry, academia and the public sector.

Let us give you a small example of how it can work:

A new sensor for ocean currents
from Deepoid AB

  • Anna Willstrand Wranne, leader of SMHI’s marine technology group, tells about an interesting company, Deepoid AB, delivering an acoustic modem to SMHI.
  • SCOOT’s coordinator contacts Anders Brodin from Deepoid, who says they are working on a new type of logging sensor for ocean currents.
  • SCOOT’s coordinator also contacts oceanography professor Göran Broström, who think this sounds interesting and writes to Anders at Deepoid.
  • A joint discussion about scope, technical solutions, ambition, time line and funding ensues. (This time without external funders.)
  • A new innovation project takes off: Deepoid shall develop, manufacture and deliver 10 current loggers to the University of Gothenburg. The technology is based on position sensing of a pendulum, with minimal weight and minimal power consumption.

Testing in real environment
and communicating results

Last week SCOOT’s coordinator, together with communicator Maria Holmkvist (Centre for Sea and Society) visited Göran and Anders at classic research station Bornö in Gullmarn. We saw Göran cracking theory, while Anders adjusted some of the loggers. Most of all we saw real environment testing and validating data collection (day and night!), new sensors deployed together with traditional acoustic sensors. Göran had brought his mini-ROV, which allowed for inspection and nice underwater photos of the deployed loggers.

Test av sensorer. Bornö. Fotograf: Maria Holmkvist
Anders Brodin. Test av sensorer. Bornö. Fotograf: Maria Holmkvist
Anders Brodin och Göran Broström på Bornö. Fotograf: Maria Holmkvist
Bornö 2021. Göran Broström, Göteborgs universitet. Fotograf: Maria Holmvksit
Bornö 2021. Göran Broström, Göteborgs universitet. Fotograf: Maria Holmvksit
Test av sensorer. Bornö. Fotograf: Maria Holmkvist
Test av sensorer. Bornö. Fotograf: Torsten Linders
Test av sensorer. Bornö. Fotograf: Torsten Linders
Bornö 2021. Göran Broström, Göteborgs universitet. Fotograf: Maria Holmvksit
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SCOOT will continue to follow Deepoid AB and this project. Specifically we want to support the next steps: Communicating with more potential users and finding funding for further development, such as including measurements of temperature and light. We believe this robust and easy to deploy sensor is optimal for:

  • Coastal marine research.
  • Monitoring around planned or completed constructions, such as aquaculture.

Thoughts? Contact Deepoid and SCOOT:

I want to know more about Deeopoid and their sensors
I have an idea for a SCOOT innovation project

Breaking: Ocean Infinity acquires SCOOT partner MMT

Acoustic, ASV, AUV, bathymetry, Data, Hugin, seabed, Sensors / March 10, 2021

Yesterday came the news that our partner MMT is being acquired by another major within ocean surveying: Ocean Initity, the pioneer in the use of simultaneously deploying fleets of marine robots. At SCOOT we are excited about the possibilities for synergies!

"I’m glad we have found new owner who want to develop MMT in the future and who also has a lot of interesting technology for us to explore. This will not change our engagement in SCOOT or other arrangements we have, e.g. with the University."
P-O Sverlinger
CEO, MMT

Ocean Infinity today operates a large fleet of AUVs, similar to our flagrobot AUV Ran (owned by UGOT, mananged by MMT). Ocean Infinity’s Armada Fleet represents a coming leap in the use of surface-going ocean robots.

Do we need to say that there has been many comments and ‘Wow!’ on Twitter and LinkedIn and other fora… Here is the press release on the matter (pdf):

SCOOT’s sailing robot gets new acoustic sensor for ocean currents, and a new sail

Aanderaa DCP, Acoustic, ASV, Platform, Sailbuoy, SB Kringla, Sensors / May 20, 2020

The image above shows our autonomous surface vessel SB Kringla being retrieved after the first of two magnificent field seasons. Now she will be upgraded with both an acoustic sensor for measuring currents and an alternative “high wind” sail.

The new sensor will be a Doppler Current Profiler by Aanderaa AS, measuring from the surface down to 30 -50 meters (depending on conditions). SCOOT is proud to be an early adopter of this sensor on an autonomous platform. Measuring the currents in the ocean surface layer can for example tell interesting things about air-sea interaction and the transfer of wind energy to the ocean, especially together with surface wind data, which SB Kringla is already measuring. The new sail is slightly smaller and more optimised for the high wind conditions in the Southern Ocean. Sails are easily switched between deployments. The upgrade (sensor and sail) will be done by Sailbuoy’s manufacturer, Offshore Sensing AS in Norway.

Doppler Current Profiler from Aanderaa AS

The Doppler Current Profiler will be used, among other applications, to further enhance our understanding of the role of vertical shear mixing in the S Ocean, which was hypothesised in a recent publication in Geophysical Research Letters, using data from SB Kringla: “Submesoscale Fronts in the Antarctic Marginal Ice Zone and Their Response to Wind Forcing”. 

SB Kringla is the first Sailbuoy to be deployed on the Southern hemisphere. SCOOT’s director Sebastiaan Swart often refers to her as “the cute one”, which does not imply that she is spared in any way! Kringla has repeatedly earned battle scars and proven herself as an ultra robust platform in the harshest conditions of the Southern Ocean (see posts from first season and second season). Data from SB Kringla (and the diving Seaglider robots) can be viewed at the website of the project Robotic Observations and Modelling of the Marginal Ice Zone.

The upper video shows a snapshot of SB Kringla during first operator training in Gothenburg. The lower video shows a Sailbuoy battling a storm on the North Sea.