Communications relay and autonomous tracking applications for Wave Glider

MBARI biological oceanographers make increasing use of mobile autonomous sensor platforms to observe dynamic phenomena, and require near real-time data in order to focus resources on rapidly evolving areas of interest. We have implemented a Wave Glider-based payload called Hot Spot that creates a disruption-tolerant communications network between shore and at-sea autonomous platforms. The Hot Spot uses multiple radio and acoustic modems and software to implement a store-and-forward network; the system reliably transfers data between the at-sea Wave Glider Hot Spot, Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV's), benthic instrument packages, and computers on shore. Hot Spot achieves this reliability in an environment where communication links are often unpredictably disrupted. Onboard Hot Spot applications use these capabilities to acoustically determine the location of multiple underwater targets, and can autonomously direct the Wave Glider to follow a moving underwater object. We describe deployments during which Hot Spot quickly transferred science and engineering data between multiple vehicles and shore, and where the Wave Glider used its Hot Spot acoustic tracking application to autonomously follow a moving submerged AUV as part of a large biochemical science campaign.