DOI: https://doi.org/10.15368/theses.2016.22
Available at: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/1585
Date of Award
3-2016
Degree Name
MS in Electrical Engineering
Department/Program
Electrical Engineering
Advisor
Vladimir Prodanov
Abstract
The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) established the Free Ocean Carbon Enrichment (FOCE) experiment to study the long-term effects of decreased ocean pH levels by developing in-situ platforms [1]. Deep FOCE (dpFOCE) was the first platform, which was deployed in 950 meters of water in Monterey Bay. After the conclusion of dpFOCE, MBARI developed an open source shallow water FOCE (swFOCE) platform located at around 250 meter of water to facilitate worldwide shallow water experiments on FOCE [1][2]. A shallow water platform can be more ubiquitous than a deep-water platform as shallow water instruments are less expensive (as it does not have to be designed to withstand the pressure at deep ocean depths) and more easily deployed (they can be deployed right along the coast).
The swFOCE experiment is an open source platform, and MBARI has made the plans available online to anyone interested in studying shallow water carbon enrichment. There is a gateway node what is connected to four sensor nodes within the swFOCE. In order to test the sensor node individually, an idea of designing an Oceanographic Instrument Simulator is purposed. The Oceanographic instrument simulator (OIS), described in this paper provides the means for MBARI engineers to test the swFOCE platform without attaching the numerous and expensive oceanographic instruments. The Oceanographic Instrument Simulator simulates the various scientific instruments that could be deployed in an actual experiment.
The Oceanographic Instrument Simulator (OIS) system includes the designed circuit board, Arduino Due and an SD Card shield. The designed circuit board will be connected to a computer through a USB cable, and be connected to MBARI’s swFOCE sensor node through a serial connection. When a query is given from the sensor node, the Arduino Due will parse the data given from the sensor node, search through the pre-installed data in the SD card and return the appropriate data back to the sensor node. A user can also manually set up the input current through a computer terminal window to control the simulated signals from the PCB.
Included in
Electrical and Electronics Commons, Other Electrical and Computer Engineering Commons, VLSI and Circuits, Embedded and Hardware Systems Commons