Yonghua Chen

Design and Development of a Drifting Buoy for Gathering Environmental Data

Operational meteorologists and Oceanographers rely on real-time environmental data to run their numerical prediction models, even carry on the research. The ground station network is dense and the data of good quality, but there is not enough environmental data from the oceans, particularly in data-sparse areas not covered by commercial ships reporting environmental data. A drifting ocean buoy is described. The drifter consists of three main components: a surface float, a tether assembly and a dimensionally-stable drogue. It utilizes a drag structure which follows the water mass of the ocean as it flows in the form of the ocean current, and which also has an aerodynamically shaped low wind drag mast to minimize wind induced errors in ocean current drift measurements; the drag structure also being stable and resistant to heaving (pitch and roll) so as to maintain a mast carried antenna above the water even at high sea states.

Torque Balance Mechanism Applied to Oceanographic Profiler

The collection of periodic profiles of oceanographic data at specific bites is a critical component of oceanographic monitoring programs. Typically, this type of work is completed by lowering instrumentation from ships but the cost of these operations has often meant that the temporal and spatial coverage of these surveys is less than ideal. As an alternative, moored profilers have been developed but the energy required moving a substantial package up and down a mooring hire can represent a major limitation. A new profiling instrument with Torque balance mechanism is under development. This device is based on a taut single point mid-water mooring system. It incorporates a small, instrumented vertically profiling float attached via an electromechanical cable to a winch integral with the main subsurface flotation. On a pre-set schedule, the instrument float carrying sensors is winched up to the surface. And it can be immediately winched down to a certain depth. To respond to the concern of energy demands, torque balance mechanism has been designed to conserve a substantial portion of the potential energy lost during the ascent phase of each profile and subsequently use this energy to pull the instrument down. Compared with the previous singlepoint layered measurement, it is useful and economica1.

An Underwater Driving Mechanism Moved inside

A variety of driving mechanisms are used on a large amount of equipment working underwater, and the driving mechanisms mostly rely on motor to work. But the seal of the motor working underwater is a thorny problem, especially in deep sea. Thus we propose a new concept of underwater drive mechanism. In the device, the motor and the shaft are sealed up overall by a watertight house. The rotation of the inside motor makes the whole sealed device to rotate through the internal toothed gears, which makes it true that the motor shaft realizes driving function by static seal. And this increases the reliability of the seal, eliminates the friction of motor shaft, and improves the mechanical efficiency. This paper introduces the building of this new underwater driving mechanism, and carries on the comprehensive analysis and its working performance to lay the foundation for its application.