SBIR Phase I: Advanced Unified Oceanographic Data Logger

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This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will provide the foundation for the technical development of a commercially viable, universal, data logging system for ultra-long duration, unattended, oceanographic measurements. The project will demonstrate a new electronic architecture for oceanographic data loggers. This advanced data logger will unify a highly fragmented commercial marketplace by offering best-of-class performance in nearly all oceanographic applications. The proposed technology employs a modular approach in which individual recording units utilize low-voltage, embedded, digital processors which are optimized specifically for their power performance. The complete recording system promises to have a power consumption that is an order of magnitude lower than existing systems, over a wide range of data rates. The logger will provide large volume mass storage and a non-volatile real-time clock. The system will implement both advanced power conversion and a high-speed communications interface, which will provide compatibility with both stand-alone and cabled applications in future seafloor observatories. Among the activities in Phase I, the project will develop and demonstrate the design for a critical component in the overall system, a 24 bit, ultra-low-power digitizer for seismic recording. A complete data logger built around this module will require less than 5 mW/channel.The commercial application of this logger will be in oceanographic research and exploration. The endemic model in oceanography is to customize off-the-shelf hardware for each specific application. This is a costly process. Many types of highly custom systems are developed and produced in small numbers, at great cost. This approach also presents a major schedule risk for the scientists involved. Not surprisingly, the operational performance of the resulting systems is suboptimal. Often, the diversion of resources for the development of instrumentation affects the scope and quality of the field research. By addressing a wide range of applications using a single, unified system, production volumes would be made large enough to reduce hardware costs significantly. Fundamental improvements to the logger's software will reduce the operational costs typically associated with customization of the system for each experiment. Reduction of both the equipment and operating costs will provide lower cost solutions for unattended oceanographic data acquisition. Reduction of the total cost of instrumentation is a critical step toward enhancing research efforts in many of the world's oceans.