FleetLink PI Meeting
July 25, 2003
Present:
Ann Buckley, Bob Groman, David Mountain, Peter Wiebe, Gary Williams, Owen Williams
The FleetLink PI meeting was held at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, meeting in the Bigelow 207 conference room, beginning at 11:00am.
There were no meeting notes from the last meeting. Bob will prepare them after receiving some additional notes from Peter, via Ann.
Hardware and Software Status
Gary reported that he has the software functions rewritten for Windows 2000. He is using Athena 1.5, also rewritten for Windows 2000, as received from Barry Walden, at WHOI. The data handling software is also pretty much rewritten. He is focusing on using the Iridium System to do the data transmissions. This too is almost done. Left to do is the gathering of the WheelHouse data files and the cleanup of files. Gary expects the communications part of the system to be completed in two weeks.
Because of the available bandwidth and charging algorithm for Iridium, he is transmitting sixty (60) minutes of Athena data each hour, via Iridium's SBD (Short Burst Data) service. While the final pricing schedule has still not been determined, it is felt that this is the best way to do the transmissions. Current charges are based on a telephone call, which works out to be $0.85 per call for the 1,000 bytes of data transmitted in less than a minute. He was encouraged to make a deal with the provider once the pricing is announced if there is a limit of 30 such transmissions per month, since we require 24 transmission per day.
There was some discussion about whether the original data should be saved on the acquisition computer. Bob and Peter felt strongly that they should. Since there was sufficient disk space to store these data for many trips, Gary agreed.
There are some initial e-mail limitations since the e-mail is going to an address elsewhere, but once the service is fully functional, the e-mail should be able to go directly to the data server at WHOI. The Iridium system is working well. In the worst case scenario the system will only be available for ten (10) more years.
User documentation preparation is underway as well.
Gary said that Bob should contact David Hill at Clearwater when he is ready to receive sample data transmissions again.
New/Replacement Hardware
Gary would like to upgrade all the field computers using less expensive computers: small format CPU boxes with a flat screen CRT. These systems would cost about $1,100 each, which is less than half what the previous systems cost. He would be able to use the existing antenna cables, with adaptors. He will use additional I/O cards to provide the required multi-comm ports. The systems will come with a DVD reader. [or reader/writer?]
A Garmin GPS will replace the Galaxy GPS systems. This unit should be at least as good with the WAAS option as differential GPS. We agreed that there should be a FleetLink emblem on the computer and/or monitor. Bob will call Hammond & Hammond to find out who does his emblems. We agreed with Gary that all existing computer systems would be replaced.
Navigation Software
We discussed whether the systems should be offered with navigation software such as WinPlot, Captain, etc. We agreed that the Windows 2000 operating system was better able to tolerate other applications working on the system and so agreed to allow the end user to buy, at our expense, one of these navigation packages. There will be maintenance consequences for Gary whenever switching to new computer platforms since the application's user files will have to be brought over to the new system.
MET and NetSensor Systems
Still to do is the reworking of the MET box. Andy is working on it, but is making slower progress. The IMET data are now more complete, with corrected wind velocity provided (i.e. corrected for heading), and there is better data quality and quality controls in place. New installations will use a sonic wind sensor. Installations still need a compass calibration, however. The NetSensor still needs to be integrated with the data gathering applications. Gary plans to talk to Barry to see if the new Athena version could accommodate these data or whether they need to stay independent.
Data Display At-Sea and Ashore
We discussed how best to display these data. Gary didn't think he needed to write the plotting programs. Ann and others felt these data would be of great interest to the fishermen. Peter mentioned that there was a web-based application available on WHOI vessels that displayed Athena data and we speculated that this application could be used to display the NetSensor and other IMET data. On a related issue, Ann felt that the web site should do a better job in providing real-time data plots. Also, she thought that the web site needed to add material for the public, outreach, fishermen, managers, and for educational purposes. She suggested to Bob that "the new Becky" take over the web site so Bob could focus on just the data management and display component, similar to the division of labor for the NEC web site. Bob agreed. Bob thought that the Martha's Vineyard Coastal Ocean web site's display capabilities would be useful to implement for FleetLink and he will look into it. Ann also suggested that the GoMOOS web site would be a good web site to review for ideas.
We also discussed how best to know when data are being collected and therefore available on the web site. We agreed that Bob would send Gary what information he would like to receive whenever the system is started up (provided below). This information is likely to include the vessel identification, date and time that the last data were written to local files, and the current, system start up, date and time. A sample telemetered message might look like this:
FleetLink Startup Message
vessel := xxxxxx
shutdown := year/month/day/time
startup := year/month/day/time
where year/month/day/time format is consistent with other date and time formats. It is assumed, and will be checked that the shut down time is earlier (before) the start up time.
Date and times are in GMT (UTC). It is further assumed that start up time will occur most often when a vessel is beginning a new trip, however, this is not guaranteed. For example, the system (or software) may crash or experience a power outage during a trip and have to be rebooted.
Boat Selection Discussion
We agreed that we would keep the existing three vessel installations if the boat owners were willing. Ann will contact them to see what their preferences are prior to Gary's computer hardware upgrades. (She expects Craig to say yes, Bobby to say no unless there are additional financial incentives, and she wasn't sure what Cam would say.) In addition, Ann hoped to add boats from other venues. There will be a NEC panel in ten days where there may be some good fits with submitted proposals, in the Gear Group (Peter) or the Catch-all Group (David). Another possibility is the Maine DMR. Ann will call Linda and/or Bob Detrow (sp?), for vessels out of Portland or New Hampshire. Another possibility is the F/V Gloria Michelle, a shrimp survey boat currently operated by NMFS (Woods Hole) but is likely to be brought to UNH. It is a mid-water trawler. David will keep Ann apprised of the vessel's future. One issue that came up was how best to package and attach the NetSensor to the trawl line. Some kind of clip-on method would be best. Covering the unit in urethane was also mentioned. However, a lot depends on the location of the reel and the trawl configuration.
In addition to the three existing vessels, we want to install the system on three additional vessels with existing funding (and two more with additional funding). Another vessel mentioned was the Gulf Challenger, out of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. We also would like to add a New Hampshire fishing vessel. Another possibility is Eric Anderson's boat. Ann would like to do a Maine in-shore survey boat, but it will depend on funding. Ann will ask Rollie to find another Portsmouth based fishing vessel, perhaps the F/V "Star Wars" vessel.
After further review, we realized that the 2003 funds were not yet spent since UNH had not yet received them, so they should be available for the additional two vessels.
WheelHouse Demonstration
Owen went through a demonstration of the re-written WheelHouse application. There was some discussion of the location of the main icons and the removal or graying out of icons not needed. It was noted that since users could change and resend data, Bob's data system needed to be able to update data already received. Owen noted that he was still missing the information for the drop down menus for the possible values for "gear", "quantity", "mesh/ring size", and "size of gear." Ann said she would follow up with this and asked Owen to re-send her the e-mail about this.
We discussed the "days at sea" issue and the eight (8) digit numbers provided by the government whenever a fishing vessel started and ended a trip.
We agreed that dates would be recorded and sent to the data system in GMT (UTC), although users would see the dates in local time. The time zone would be provided to Bob during routine data transmissions to keep along with the data records.
Next Meeting
It was agreed that the next meeting should occur in late August or mid September.
The meeting adjourned at 3:00pm.
Prepared by: Bob Groman
Last modified: August 5, 2003