Acoustic Research Laboratory

The Problem

The Acoustic Research Laboratory (ARL) of the Tropical Marine Science Institute of the National University of Singapore required a bottom mounted observation platform that released to the surface on command or after a fixed period of time. Conventional acoustic releases often have no connecting tether line and this was undesirable for two reasons: if no line is used the anchoring weight becomes sacrificial and a free floating package can drift in currents and become lost. Therefore a ‘spooled line’ system was needed.

The Fiomarine Solution

Subsurface systems generally require five components: a deadweight, an acoustic release, a tether line to the instrument package, another tether line to the float and the float itself. This becomes complex and too large for small vessel deployments. Fiomarine collaborated with ARL to devise a simple solution. Fiobuoys acoustic communications and hollow casings have allowed ARL to integrate monitoring devices within the Fiobuoys to become PANDAs: self-recovering shallow water acoustic loggers. Utilising Fiobuoys all-in-one system has allowed ARL to economise the PANDA to only two components: a fully recoverable system that uses a lightweight recoverable anchor.

The Result

With a Fiobuoy, Fiomarine has made it possible for ARL to develop an inexpensive, robust, self-contained and highly integrated bottom mounted data acquisition system. The PANDA is more economical and much less complex to handle and operate.

Read the ARL's full report on the PANDA.

Visit our Fiobuoy v Acoustic Release page for more information about how the Fiobuoy 'all-in-one' system is different from other underwater acoustic systems, or fill out an enquiry form to discuss your recovery solution with us.