SGER: Underwater Optical Communications with a Small Independent Orientation Device

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole MA

Investigators

Abstract

0081009 Tivey Researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution will build and test a small, solid state, low power, and cable-free orientation device using new magnetic sensor technology and newly available optical communications technology using blue LED (light-emitting diode) devices. The orientation device would be used to determine the orientation of geological features on the seafloor in the same way that geologists use a Brunton compass to measure strike and dips of rock formations on land. The proposed instrument will provide an order of magnitude improvement in seafloor orientation measurements, and it will demonstrate the feasibility and robustness of optical communications using blue LED technology in the deep-sea environment.