12/16/02

Sonobuoy Project Meeting notes from 12/16/02

Discussed previous weeks assigned works

 No contact with Brockport as of yet, they are on vacation probably until January (?). Jim Haines is the contact we need to talk with there  Coast Guard has yet to give an answer regarding regulations for a non-secured buoy in the Great Lakes. Officer Santoiago is to get back to us sometime later this week with an answer or who can answer the question  We don’t have a firm figure for the power consumption, which will be used on the buoy at this point. This is due to not yet having met with the people in Brockport to confirm exactly what will be on the buoy.  Went over previous week’s designs, and some of the problems with them. It has been suggested that we study various propulsion methods, and for the time being plan on not having any method of propulsion on this buoy.  Went over various power generating methods. The three discussed were wind generation, solar power, and wave action. Solar power seems to be the best option at this point as it is more cost effective than originally thought. Solar power can produce anywhere from 100 to 200mV to charge an onboard battery.

Discussion of ideas

 Need better clarification on what data our customer will be looking for. We already know temperature, depth, and location, but also the amount of light as well.  There was a separate project done in the past for the deployment of sensors from a large vessel, which might be a good resource for us.  Idea of a flare was brought up again. Also whether or not we have power generation we need to build in the ability for the buoy to realize it is low on power and notify a base station that it needs to be picked up. Enough power needs to be left over in order for the buoy to transmit its location to the base to organize retrieval.  We do know that a transmitter we already have can transmit from 5 to 50 watt- powered signal. 50W signal requires 96W of power, but only for a short amount of time.  We need to talk with the ME department, and anyone else who may be able to donate money to our project, as we do not currently know how much money we have, but know it wont be very much at this point in time.  Pictures of the vessel which will deploy our buoy can be found at www.Brockport.edu/Bio  Came up with our group Norms and Values.

Assignments:

 By Friday we will have more exact specifications for our project  Everyone is to do a literature search in their appropriate areas of interest.  Start a notebook, to be kept for all of our personal work  Ethan – Type up meeting notes, and Norms and Values

Next Meeting Wednesday 12/18/02 at 6pm.