Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute

Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (mbari)

Thomas C O'Reilly

William J Kirkwood

Ed Mellinger

Farley Shane

Michael Risi

Joseph Andrew Gashler

Mark Griese

Knut Strietlien

Duane Edgington

Douglas Au

The invention provides a plug-and-work sensor interface device named 'puck' for fast and easy deployment of various types of serial devices, which include commercial off-the-shelf and custom-made sensors and instruments, in a distributed, dynamic oceanic observing network. In an embodiment, each puck is removably attached and electrically coupled to a specific sensor to be deployed. The puck comprises a non-volatile memory for associating and storing arbitrary binary information about the sensor and a microprocessor for controlling how the information is read from and written into the non-volatile memory. The sensor information may include unique sensor identifier, sensor metadata, sensor device driver, etc. The puck itself does not execute any of the device code; rather, a host retrieves the sensor information from the puck when the puck is plugged in. The retrieval can be done automatically or semi-automatically with user interaction. After introducing the sensor to the host, the puck retires into a pass mode, allowing the host to communicate directly with the sensor. According to an aspect of the invention, the deployment of any serial device essentially consists of the steps of removably attaching a puck to the serial device and plugging the puck into a host.

Puck interface adapter including drivers for interfacing serial device to host wherein puck implements command mode and pass through mode

An assembly for an underwater vehicle that includes a motor, a duct assembly, and an actuator. The duct assembly includes a duct and a propeller mounted within the duct, where the propeller is driven by the motor. The actuator is connected to the duct assembly and the vehicle. The actuator pivots the duct assembly with respect to the vehicle. Alternatively, the assembly includes a motor, a duct having a generally cylindrical shape oriented about a longitudinal axis, and a propeller having an axis of rotation. The propeller is mounted within the duct and is driven by the motor. The propeller and the duct are connected such that the axis of rotation and the longitudinal axis have a fixed orientation with respect to one another. The assembly includes a configuration for changing an orientation of the axis of rotation and the longitudinal axis with respect to the vehicle.

Tail assembly for an underwater vehicle

Growing community of inventors

Santa Cruz, CA, United States of America

Thomas C O'Reilly