Events

This project is a combination of an embedded device and an application to both measure and analyze surface wave movement in the ocean. The embedded device is designed to be installed within an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) and collect three axis accelerometer and quaternion orientation data. The device is desgined to be powered by the on board battery pack, and is connected over RS232 serial connection to the on board science computer, which controls other various peripherals on the AUV. The AUV cycles between diving underwater to use other peripherals and floating on the surface and using our designed module for 15 - 20 minutes for a single measurement session. The collected data is stored on a micro SD card to be used later with the designed software application. The embedded system is also designed to compute a significant wave height estimate based off of a single measurement session. This estimate is transmitted to the science computer, which transmits the estimate wirelessly back to shore. The software application is designed to analyze the raw measurement data in much more detail to produce directional and non-directional wave spectra. These results are displayed using various tools such as polar plots to display directional data.