A WATER QUALITY MONITORING ROBOT

P.W. Osborne, E . Hoffman and R.W. Lovekady, R. Eollowayr,-..R.L. FergYson

Osborne-Hof fman , InC. NASA

3 0 4 Richmond Ave. (HWy 35) Langley Research Center
p o i n t Pleasant Beach, N J 0 8 7 4 2 H d p t o n , VA 23665

Abstract

The e l e c t r o n i c s p a c k a g e f o r 11 new Water weeks o r l o n g e r . Up t o 1 2 , 0 0 0 measurements

Quality Monitoring system i s described. may b e s t o r e d i n t h e : sysfcem. Remote under-
D e s i g n e df o ru s ei nr i v e r s ,l a k e s and water communications are a v a i l a b l e t o
estuaries,thisversatile automatoncan g a t h e rd a t a ,t or e p r o g r a mt h ea u t o m a t o na n d
replace costly manual methods with auto- t o command t h e submerged Buoy t o s u r f a c e .
mated i n s i t u measurementsandwater Programming of the measurement schedule
s a m p l e s .E i g h ts e l e c t a b l es e n s o r sa n d a and a l l commands o r i g i n a t e a t t h e s u r f a c e
1 6 c e l l water sampler are programmable C o n t r o l S t a t i o n . The measurementofeach
forunattendedoperation.Underwater parameter i s programmable i n terms of time
communications t o a s u r f a c e C o n t r o l o fd a y ,i n t e r v a l sd u r i n gt h ed a y ,b u r s t so f
Station permit collection of data and measurementswithin a s p e c i f i e d i n t e r v a l ,
rescheduling of measurements without the o r on t h e b a s i s o f a n a l e r t t r i g g e r e d by
needtoretrievethe submerged Buoy. The a n o t h e r p a r a m e t e r . An a l e r t example i s t h e
automated i n s i t u measurementsprovided c o l l e c t i o n o f a water sample when the l e v e l
by t h i s r o b o t - l i k e s y s t e m can p r o v i d e of dissolved oxygen drops below a threshold
early warnings of water. p o l l u t i o n , q u a n t i - value.
tativeresultsforregulatoryaction and
capabilities for scientific studies I t was t h e g o a l o f t h i s d e v e l o p m e n t t o u s e
h e r e t o f o r eu n a v a i l a b l e . c o m m e r c i a l l ya v a i l a b l es e n s o r s .T h e s e were
adapted to in situ measurements.Flexibil-
itytoincorporateadditionalsensorsto
e f f e c t d i f f e r e n t measurements i s b u i l t i n t o
t h e Water Q u a l i t y M o n i t o r i n g s y s t e m .
Introduction
A block diagram of the system i s shown i n
F i g u r e 1. When l a u n c h e d ,t h er o b o t - l i k e
The i n c r e a s i n g i m p o r t a n c e o f water q u a l i t y Buoy r e l e a s e s i t s e l f t o a p r e s e t h e i g h t o f f
and t h e n e e d t o p r o v i d e s c i e n t i s t s w i t h the bottom.Whilethe Buoy i s a t work p e r -
r e p e a t a b l e and e r r o r - f r e e m e a s u r e m e n t s forming i t s a p p o i n t e d tasks, t h i s c o n d i t i o n
h a v es p u r r e dt h ed e v e l o p m e n to ft h i s new i s signaled acoustically through the water.
Water QualityMonitoringsystem. I t has Upon i n t e r r o g a t i o n from t h e s u r f a c e C o n t r o l
long been recognized that manual methods S t a t i o n , the Buoy t r a n s m i t s t h e r e s u l t s
of measurement are expensive and prone to c o l l e c t e dt o - d a t e . Once t r a n s m i s s i o n i s
human e r r o r .M o r e o v e r ,m a n u a ld a t ac o l l e c - completedwithouterrors,the Buoy r e t u r n s
tionaroundtheclock is not practical in t o i t s appointedtasks.Reschedulingof
many s i t u a t i o n s . Y e t , continuousmonitoring measurements may beaccomplishedfrom the
is essential to pinpoint the causes and ControlStationviatheacousticor cable
effects of isolated events. Based on the command l i n k . Upon completionof i t s work,
c o s t of manual d a t a c o l l e c t i o n i n t h e p a s t the Control Station commands t h e Buoy t o
t h e Water Q u a l i t y M o n i t o r i n g r o b o t c o u l d floattothesurfaceforrecovery. An a u t o -
pay f o r i t s e l f d u r i n g its first launch maticself-testroutineallowsthe system
period. t o check i t s c a l i b r a t i o n d a i l y .
The a d v e n t o f m i c r o p r o c e s s o r s andof non- In t h e C o n t r o l S t a t i o n , c o m p l e t e f l e x i b i l -
volatile magnetic bubble memories has per- ity for data organization and p r e s e n t a t i o n
mittedthedevelopmentofthisautomaton. o f r e s u l t s is provided. A l i q u i d c r y s t a l
The system may b e l e f t u n a t t e n d e d f o r two d i s p l a y a n d a p r i n t e r are i n c o r p o r a t e d .

This work was performed under NASA c o n t r a c t NAS1-15076

512

CH1685-7/81/0000-0512 0 1981 IEEE

$00.75
 I Depth:
Operating Submerged t o 1 0 0 f t m a .

Sensors: Temperature
Pressure
Conductivity
PH
ORP (Redox)
Dissolved Oxygen
Fluoride
Turbidity
p l u s1 6 - c e l lw a t e rs a m p l e r

Length of Operation: 1 4 days

Data Points: 1 2 ,0 8 1

Data R e t r i e v a l : Viaacousticlinkinside a
cone of approximately 4 5 deg.
i n open w a t e r s o r v i a a d i r e c t
cable l i n k .

Data Identification: Buoy ( S t a t i o n )I d e n t i f i c a t i o n ,

Parameter name, Unitsofmeasurement,
T i m e o fe v e n ti nd a y ss i n c el a u n c h ,
hoursandminutesofday.Calendar
d a t ea n d time oflaunch are a l s o shown.

Buoy
Size: 20 i n d i a . x 5 f t .h e i g h t

I Weight:
ControlStation
1 3 0 poundsaw
nt o
ci th
thaolr

Size: 2 1 i n . x 13 i n . x ai6n
t t4.a c h e case

Weight: 2 0 pounds

DescriptionofSubsurface Buoy h o l d a 1 0 , 0 0 0 s t e ps o f t w a r ep a c k a g e . When

a command i s r e c e i v e d i n t h e D a t a L i n k , t h e
A blockdiagramof the Buoy e l e c t r o n i c s is CPU i n t e r r u p t s i t s s c h e d u l ea n dt u r n s its
shown i n F i g u r e 2 . The Buoy c o n t r o l s e i g h t a t t e n t i o n t o t h e r e c e i v e d command which
s e n s o r s , a 16-cell water samplerand a originatedatthesurfaceControlStation.
Release mechanism. The CPU h a s a h i e r a r c h y of p r i o r i t i e s and
w i l l a l l o w t h e Buoy. t o p e r f o r m o n l y o n e
The Buoy r e c e i v e st h es c h e d u l eo fm e a s u r e - t a s k a t a time..
mentsand a l l commands o v e r t h e a c o u s t i c
or the direct cable command l i n k . TheData When a measurement i s d e s i r e d , t h e c o r r e s -
Linkblockdecodesthereceiveddigital pondingsensor i s a c t i v a t e d by a s i g n a l
b i t stream. A f t e r c h e c k i n g f o r e r r o r s , the from t h e CPU t o i t s i n t e r f a c e c i r c u i t . The
housekeeping b i t s a r e s t r i p p e d a n d t h e measurement i s performed by t h e s e n s o r , as
r e m a i n i n gi n f o r m a t i o nb i t sa r ep r e s e n t e d w e l l a so t h e rs e n s o r s ,s u c h as t e m p e r a t u r e ,
t o t h e CPU. The CPU i s an 1 8 0 2 microproces- u s e df o rs e c o n d a r yc o r r e c t i o n s . The o u t p u t
S O E . basedsystem. The1802 i s o f CMOS of e a c h s e n s o r i s b u f f e r e d i n t h e s i g n a l
c o n s t r u c t i o n ;t h e lowpower consumption of conditioningcircuitandisolatedfromthe
CMOS p e r m i t sl o n g term b a t t e r y o p e r a t i o n . sensor interface by floating supplies and
o p t o i s o l a t o r s . The s e n s o r i n t e r f a c e t r a n s -
The CPU s u b s y s t e m c o n s i s t s of t h e 1 8 0 2 , t w o lates theanalogvoltageinto a serial
512 x 8 RAMS, twenty 5 1 2 x8 EPROMs t o h o l d d i g i t a l stream and p r e s e n t s i t t o t h e CPU.
t h es o f t w a r ep r o g r a m , a timer, a n dI n p u t /
Outputcircuitstohandshakewiththe rest The CPU computes t h e t r u e v a l u e o f t h e
o f t h e Buoy e l e c t r o n i c s . The twenty EPROMs measurement using the secondary parameters

513
 LIST O F SENSORS

Manufacturer Units Range Measured Resolution

Temperature YSI Thermistor probe 71( Degrees C -2 t o +35 .2O c

B e l l t Howell CEC 1000 kg/m2 0 t o 5 ABS 2 %

Conductivitl N e i l Brown-4 E l e c t r o d e umho/cm 0 t o 100,000 3 %

GreatLakes pH 6 0 PH 2 t o 12 .1
G r e a t Lakes O W 60 mV -1000 t o + l o o 0 5 mV

Beckman F i e l d l a b 39552 mg/l 0 t o 20 2 %

4-3
Beckman F i e l d l a b 39600 mg/l Activityto 10 10 %
Ecologic 204A NTU 0 t o 100 .2 mu

and equation specified by the sensor i n i t i a l deploymentofthe Buoy. T h i s com-

i n t e r f a c e . The CPU c o m p r e s s e st h es e n s o r
i d e n t i f i c a t i o n , t r u e measuredvalueand
time of measurement i n t o a 2 9 b i t word
foreachdatapoint. The d a t a i s s e n t
from the CPU t o t h e s t o r a g e u n i t , which
i s the magnetic bubble memory, o r MBM.
mand c a u s e s t h e Buoy t o b e r e l e a s e d f r o m
t h e b o t t o m t o i t s o p e r a t i n g h e i g h t . The
command t o release t h e Buoy completelyfrom
i t s anchor i s given a t the e n d o f t h e dep-
l o y m e n tp e r i o d . A t t h i s time, t h e Buoy
floatstothesurfaceforrecovery.

The b u l k o f t h e MBM i s used t o s t o r e The l o c a t o r p i n g e r o p e r a t e s o f f i t s own

d a t a p o i n t s . Data i s o r g a n i z e d i n b l o c k s internal battery and emits a codedtone
and pages i n t h e MBM. The measurement b u r s t . Its f u n c t i o n i s t o h e l p r e l o c a t e t h e
schedule,whichamounts t o o n l y 1%of s u b s u r f a c e Buoy. A standardcommercial
t o t a l MBM c a p a c i t y , i s s t o r e d i n t h e non- acousticlisteningdevice w i l l indicatethe
v o l a t i l e memory with redundancy. The MBM d i r e c t i o n of t h e Buoy.
uses a s e p a r a t e , smaller CPU subsystem
of i t s own. The1802 m i c r o p r o c e s s o r i s The emergencypinger i s t u r n e d on when t h e
u s e dh e r ea l s o . A 1000 stepsoftware Buoy i s n o tp e r f o r m i n g any t a s k s . T h i s may
p a c k a g es u p p o r t st h e MBM. occurunderseveraldifferentcircumstances
withtheeffect of s t o p p i n g the CPU i n t h e
When the s u r f a c e C o n t r o l S t a t i o n r e q u e s t s Buoy: the power p a c k o f t h e Buoy hasbeen
d a t a from t h e Buoy, t h e CPU i n t h e Buoy usedup, a waterleakintheenclosurehas
first gets the data from i t s MBM. Format- b e e nd e t e c t e d ,t h e MBM i s f u l l o f d a t a , o r
t i n g and housekeeping b i t s are added i n a m a a f u n c t i o n i n the system. When t h e emer-
theDataLinkundersupervisionofthe gencypinger i s o n , t h e Buoy w i l l n o t res-
CPU a n d t h e i n f o r m a t i o n is transmitted to pond t o commands o r p e r f o r m anymeasure-
the ConkrBlsStahion :$e2kxT.ljr.The stream ments.
i s of FSX modulation over- the a c o u s t i c
l i n k a n d i s b i n a r y d i g i t a l over t h e d i r e c t
c a b l el i n k .
DescriptionofControlStation
The water sampler is a c t i v a t e d by an i n t e r -
facecircuitcontrolled by t h e CPU. Sequen-
c i n g is performed i n a c c o r 3 a n c e w i t h t h e The C o n t r o l S t a t i o n a l l o w s p r e s e n t a t i o n o f
schedulestoredinthe MBM. The time of r e s u l t si no r g a n i z e df o r m a t ,r e m o t e com-
eachsample i s s t o r e d among the d a t a p o i n t s m u n i c a t i o n sw i t ht h e Buoy, s c h e d u l i n g o f
i n t h e MBM. m e a s u r e m e n t s ,a n dc a l i b r a t i o no fs e n s o r s
i n t h e Buoy. A u s e r i n t e r a c t i v e k e y b o a r d
The release mechanism i s t r i g g e r e d upon a n d d i s p l a y i s p r o v i d e d .E n t r i e sa n d
command fromtheContrrdl-.Station. One of p r o m p t i n ga r ei nE n g l i s h . Thus, the u s e r is
t h e commands i s i s s u e d s h o r t l y a f t e r t h e p r o v i d e d w i t h a stand-alone system having

514
t h e power of a minicomputer. For acoustic communications with the Buoy,
a hydrophone is lowered i n t h e w a t e r . The
A block diagram of the Surface Control hydrophonecable is p l u g g e di n t ot h e
S t a t i o n i s shown i n F i g u r e 3 . The 6 4 c h a r - C o n t r o lS t a t i o na t t a c h e case. The d a t a i s
a c t e r ASCII keyboard i s supplementedby t r a n s m i t t e d i n FSK f o r m a t . C a r r i e r f r e q -
sixspecialpurposekeys. The CPU s c a n s u e n c i e s o f 230 Khz and153 Khz are used.
thekeyboardforentries. The 1 6 c h a r a c t e r Modulation r a t e i s 2 . 8 8K b i t / s e c .P a r i t y
alphanumeric LCD d i s p l a y shows a l l e n t r i e s checks are used to detect errors in meas-
l i n e by l i n e . The s p e c i a l p u r p o s e " p r i n t " urementdata. Commands t r a n s m i t t e d from
key a c t i v a t e s t h e s e l f - c o n t a i n e d p r i n t e r . theControlStationtothe Buoy a r e r e p -
A l l program e n t r i e s a n d s c h e d u l e s a r e e a t e d by t h e Buoy. T h i s c o n f i r m a t i o n i s
e n t e r e d from thekeyboard. The s u p p o r t i n g receivedacddisplayedonthe LCD d i s p l a y .
softwarepackageresidentinthe CPU
prompts t h e o p e r a t o r ona l i n e by l i n e A u t o m a t i soenfn scoar l i b r a t i o n is
basis.Fulleditingcapabilitiesarealso achieved.No i n t e r n a l s c r e w d r i v e r a d j u s t -
included. ment o r p o t e n t i o m e t e r t r i m m i n g i s needed.
A standardsolution i s presentedtoeach
Data i s r e t r i e v e d f r o m t h e Buoy and s t o r e d s e n s o r . The t r u ev a l u eo ft h es a m p l e is
i n t h e MBM. A s i n t h e Buoy , the s t o r a g e e n t e r e df r o mt h ek e y b o a r d .C a l i b r a t i o n is
c a p a c i t y is o b t a i n e d i n f o u r 92 K b i tc h i p s . thenperformedinternally by t h e s o f t w a r e
The measurement d a t a r e c e i v e d from t h e i n t h e Buoy.
Buoy i s preceded by heading information.
T h i s i n c l u d e s a Buoy i d e n t i f i c a t i o n number,
a ' r o s t e r o fs e n s o r st h e Buoy c a r r i e s , and Conclusions
t h e l a t e s t measurementschedule.This
formatpermitsoneSurfaceControlStation
t o s e r v i c e many Buoys. By means o f o p e r a t o r S e v e r a l t e s t s were run i n 1 9 8 0 i n l a k e s
i n s t r u c t i o n s from t h ek e y b o a r d ,d a t a is and reservoirs in Virginia and a l s o i n
selectivelyretrievablefordisplay,print- Lake.Huron. R e s u l t s on t h i s p r o t o t y p e
o u t a n dt r a n s m i s s i o no v e rt h e RS 232 l i n k . system indicate that automated measurements
S e l e c t i o n i s made on t h e b a s i s o f s t a t i o n p r o v i d ei m p o r t a n ts c i e n t i f i c and c o s t ad-
number a s s i g n e d t o t h e Buoy, parameter vantagesovermanualmethods. The f i n e
measured, and t i m e i n t e r v a l d e s i r e d . An structureofthedata,thereadycorrelat-
exampleof t y p i c a l d a t a i s shown i n t h e ionofparameter t o parameterplots,the
printoutofFigure 4. r e p e a t a b i l i t yo fm e a s u r e m e n t s , and t h e
flexibilityintheschedule programming
demonstratecapabilitiesnotprovided by
methods c u r r e n t l y i n u s e .

SENSOR

1
SIGNAL RELEASE
SURFACE CONTROL STATION CONDITIONING SE3SOR
IWPER??ACE
HZCEMIS':

4 &

t l
ACOUSTIC
m.

v . !qATER
OR SAMPLER

CABLE
_.
COMMAND L I N K
b
C I
MAGNEI'IC
- CENTWJ.
-PROCESSING

u
BUBBLE WJIT
HMORY
I 2ti
1
SUBSURFACE BUOY

ACOUSTIC

FXERGENCY
LCCATOR
PINGEB PINGER LINK DATA

Figure 1
System Block Diagram

Flgure 2
Block Diagrm. of Subsusface B u o y

515
 ACOUSTIC
XEYBOARD OB
CABLE
DATA L?JiX

1
9

LIQUID
CRYSTAL
DISPLAY
-4
CEETRRL
PROCESSOR
UNIT
CPU
___g
-
MAG NET IC
BUBBLE
MESORY

Figure 3
B ~ O & Diagrmof Surface Control S t a t i o n

Figure 4
T y p i c a l d a t a from Buoy N o 1

Figure 5 Figure 6
S u b s u r f a c e Buoy s e t f o r launch Photograph of S u r f a c e C o n t r o l S t a t i o n

516