During 2021, the team was able to successfully conclude the development of the WAVY Ocean, which has been tested for several use cases, and it is now nearly ready for production.
The WAVY Ocean is the largest drifter of the WAVY family, a 20 cm sphere with 3450g weight, designed for coastal, shelf, deep sea, and long-lived missions. It is equipped with GNSS tracking geo-spatial positioning, 2 temperature sensors acquiring both sea surfer and near sea surface temperatures gradient, and an Inertial Motion Unit (IMU) that together with the GNSS provides directional waves. In its present configuration, this drifter acquires temperature data every 20 minutes, and wave parameters at 4Hz every 1 to 5 hours. It communicates via satellite and, depending on the WAVY configurations, the battery life time can last up to 140 days.
The family of WAVY drifters is now composed of tree drifters tested and demonstrated in many different campaigns: the WAVY Basic, the WAVY Littoral, and the WAVY Ocean.
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WAVY Version |
Main Features |
Size |
Purpose |
|
WAVY Basic |
GNSS, GPRS, 1 thermistor |
10 cm diameter, 400g
|
To be used in sheltered coastal areas. Specially designed for citizen science missions |
| WAVY Littoral |
GNSS, GPRS, adjustable ballast module, SIM card, IMU (MEMS) |
12 cm diameter, 770g
|
Designed for exposed littoral areas and short lived-missions |
|
Wavy Ocean
|
GNSS, adjustable ballast module, 2 thermistors (near sea-surface temperatures), satellite communications, IMU, solar panels |
20 cm diameter, 3450g
|
To be used in coastal, shelf and deep-sea areas. Can be configured for long-lived missions
|
Family of WAVY Drifters: WAVY Ocean, WAVY Littoral and WAVY Basic (from right to left)