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Did you know that the ToughBoy data collection buoy interfaces to many sensors, and the EIVA team is happy to customise it to your needs? EIVA’s ToughBoy is a high-performing, low power consumption, robust sensor platform for remotely monitoring offshore conditions such as oceanographic, meteorological, environmental parameters and more.
This customisability means you can get a data buoy that perfectly matches the setup you’re looking for – and which provides a fleet of benefits including automatically backed up data and real-time data display for you and your clients anywhere in the world through EIVA’s web portal ToughBoy Onshore.
Standard sensors integrated with the ToughBoy include high-precision wave sensors and ADCPs (acoustic doppler current profiler). Depending on the customers’ needs, we can also equip the ToughBoy with other sensors, such as a weather transmitter and environmental sensors. Additionally, sensors can be integrated on the buoy, in subsea pods or mounted to the seabed. This makes the ToughBoy data collection buoy ideal for a wide variety of different applications; as an oceanographic profiling buoy for scientific studies; an ocean current and weather buoy for monitoring conditions during offshore construction; a scientific buoy for studying environmental factors; and much more.
In this article, we dive into several possible sensor options with the ToughBoy data collection buoy: wave, current, weather, tide and any manner of oceanographic or environmental sensors. This is the second in a series of articles, in which we will dive further into the different aspects of the ToughBoy data buoy.
Watch the ToughBoy as it is easily deployed to sea
All ToughBoy data collection buoys come equipped with a high-precision wave sensor. This sensor measures with intervals 10-180 min and with a resolution of 0.1 s wave peak period, 1° wave mean direction, 0.1 m significant wave height and 0.01 m sea surface elevation.
The standard ADCPs pre-configured for the ToughBoy are the Teledyne Workhorse Monitor ADCP in models 300, 600 and 1200 kHz. They are equipped with base accuracy bottom tracking and measure current at intervals of 10-180 min, with a resolution of 1 mm/s velocity and ±5° direction.
Examples of ADCP and weather data as they are displayed in the ToughBoy Onshore web portal (scroll down for a video walk-through), along with a picture by WSP of their ToughBoy data buoy deployed in the Storstrøm strait
In addition to the standard models, EIVA has integrated a variety of custom sensor setups with the ToughBoy – depending on the needs of each customer’s projects. For example, WSP, a sustainable construction consultancy, needed to monitor wave, current and weather conditions so that engineering venture SBJV could know when it’s safe to work on building the Storstrøm bridge (in waters with often very strong currents). In this case study, you can read about the ToughBoy solution WSP has deployed in the Storstrøm strait. This setup includes a Vaisala WXT weather transmitter, on top of the standard wave sensor and ADCP.
Another customer requested a ToughBoy setup which would register tide as well. EIVA enabled this simply by equipping the ToughBoy with a Trimble GPS and automatically calculating the tide from the data.
Tide measurements displayed over time in ToughBoy Onshore – watch this video to see how ToughBoy users access their real-time data
Did you know that EIVA is a third-party provider of a wide variety of equipment including oceanographic sensors? Instruments such as CTD, SVP, chemical and optical, depth and temperature, water and currents and water samplers are available in EIVA’s webshop. Our team has expertise with the different oceanographic sensors available, which makes them well-positioned to integrate the right sensor setups for fulfilling customers’ needs.
For scientific studies of environmental factors, the ToughBoy can be equipped with any manner of sensors. One such example is a ToughBoy setup for studying the effects of aquatic farms on water bodies nearby – helping to ensure sustainable aquaculture practices and the safety of marine ecosystems. To achieve this, the ToughBoy must be equipped with the relevant sensors. For example, if the concern is harmful algal blooms, the ToughBoy can be equipped with a fluorometer like Chelsea Technologies’ Trilux. We will dive into ToughBoy setups for studying this issue in an upcoming article, so keep an eye on the horizon for it by following our social media or newsletter.
EIVA provides different ways to integrate sensors, since environmental sensors need to take measurements deeper in the water than the wave, current and weather sensors – which are integrated on the buoy on the surface of the water. For subsea sensors, EIVA can make subsea pods attached to a cable along the mooring to a clump weight. The cable can also extend to bottom-mounted sensors on the seabed, which EIVA can fit with a bottom frame.
In addition to the different sensor integration options, you can choose between two different sizes of ToughBoy – 1.2 or 1.9 m in diameter. You might for example choose the larger size if you are deploying the ToughBoy in an environment with strong winds and waves or if you need a larger payload capacity.
The above options are just a few of the possibilities for data collection with the ToughBoy. Feel free to reach out to the EIVA crew with ideas for other integrations – or simply let us know what challenges your offshore monitoring projects faces!
Dive into our webshop or reach out to learn more… let’s chat about a customised setup!
Don’t forget to follow our social media and/or newsletter to stay tuned for more on the latest EIVA solutions, for example the next in our series of articles on the benefits of the ToughBoy data buoy.
