Real-Time Technology in Trials for AUV/ASV Data Recovery, Ship Hull Networking, and ADCP Data Backhaul Use Cases
OCEANOLOGY INTERNATIONAL (STAND B51), BATHGATE, SCOTLAND – February 14, 2023 – CSignum Ltd., the global leader in wireless underwater communications, asset digitization, and actionable insights for ocean and freshwater industries, today announced that the CSignum EM technology will become commercially available in early Q2 of this year. The electromagnetic fields that drive the EM Modem, make it the first and only reliable point-to-point wireless communications system that enables the transmission of data through the water-air boundary, is currently undergoing successful trials for three use cases: AUV and ASV data recovery, ship hull networking, and real-time ADCP data backhaul.
CSignum has successfully transmitted real-time data from underwater modems to topside receivers connecting EM technology to industry standard sondes, ADCPs and dataloggers. The EM Modem is complementary to and overcomes the limitations of acoustic, optical and cabled data transmissions to provide the monitoring and navigational platform and solutions that digitize and scale IoT subsea devices for underwater industries encouraging greater sustainability, increased performance, and preparedness for unforeseen events.
AUV/ASV Data Recovery
The technology has also been used in an industrial asset integrity initiative underway at HESS for monitoring, inspecting, and repairing assets using autonomous vehicles in the oil and gas sector, a project that also has promising potential for environmental monitoring. HESS and Ocean Aero (Stand A50) have successfully completed initial trials in which an EM Modem deployed on a Triton AUV sent and received information from underwater sensors positioned either on the sea floor or on submerged buoys. The companies are currently exploring how sensors could be further utilized to monitor overall water quality parameters in the future — from dissolved oxygen levels to turbidity to ocean temperatures. Initial trials have proven the industrial use case workable whether the transmitting modem and receivers are connecting with vehicles underwater, at the surface or in the air.
“The ability to deliver underwater communications utilizing the EM Modem unlocks exciting opportunities to expand Hess autonomous operations,” said Keith Blystone, Chief of Staff at Ocean Aero. “By autonomously collecting and communicating subsurface data wirelessly with the TRITON, we can speed up information gathering for Hess—and that means faster decision making.”
Ship Hull Networking
Working with partners and the EM Modem, CSignum has successfully provided access to real-time wireless data transmissions from the keel of Her Majesty’s Yacht (HMY) Britannia, which was decommissioned in 1997 and is now moored in Ocean Terminal in Edinburgh, to topside receivers on multiple decks without the expense and difficulty of fitting cables through the hull to monitor the environment around and under the ship and the ship’s condition. Prior to the successful trial, marine vessel operators have had no way to conduct inspections or to “see” what is happening below the waterline of their ships without dive crews, underwater vehicles or bringing vessels into drydock for routine maintenance – an inefficient, expensive and potentially dangerous process. CSignum and its partners are currently evaluating other commercial use cases for underwater-to-air deck use cases in the under-hull domain.
Real-Time ADCP Data Backhaul
Working with a recognized leader in the field of water quality, CSignum is trialing a simplified system using the EM Modem that eliminates the need for a cabled link (which can snag and fail due to repeated wave motion stresses) to an ADCP (Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler). In the solution, which is deployed in the Baltic Sea, data are communicated wirelessly from an ADCP modem on the seabed to a second modem with datalogger on a surface vehicle or buoy. The system, which transmits data every five minutes, is planned to be expanded to allow the transmission of corrosion, strain, flow, motion, pressure, pH, sea levels, pollution, climate change and temperature data from seabed to air. This solution is ideal for environmental monitoring and wireless deployment in turbid adverse conditions such as where fresh water and sea water collide, or out in shipping channels where buoys are tough to deploy.
“We are thrilled with the progress we have made in just the last year to bring our patented EM Modem to market and appreciate the partnerships we have with Hess, Ocean Aero, and others, so our solutions are ready for these use cases and others yet to be imagined,” said Mark Rhodes, CTO at CSignum.” “Our ongoing work with sensor manufacturers to ensure sensors, sondes and ADCPs can connect seamlessly with EM technology means we can expect to play a central role in unlocking data collection from below the surface of our oceans, lakes and rivers – providing end-to-end reliable and standardized connections in real time for all subsea IoT devices.”
Availability
The CSignum EM-1 is available for commercial sale in Q2 of calendar year 2023. To receive additional information about the product or to see a demonstration or initiate a trial, please go to https://www.csignum.com/downloads/
About CSignum Ltd
CSignum is the only wireless communications provider that enables the first automatic and reliable transmission of data through and across the water-air boundary, water column, seabed and subsea structures using EM technology. Our patented communication, monitoring and navigational platform and solutions help aquaculture, freshwater, ocean observing, offshore wind, and oil and gas industries automate and reliably transmit data as they digitally transform and scale remote communications systems for greater sustainability, increased performance, and preparedness for unforeseen events.
CSignum was founded in 2020 to engineer a smarter planet by optimizing ocean and freshwater health for the sustainable use by all. The company is headquartered in Bathgate, Scotland.
