ToughBoy sensor platform: What you get

EIVA’s ToughBoy data collection buoy is a robust sensor platform for real-time remote monitoring of offshore conditions such as oceanographic, meteorological, environmental parameters and more.

In this article, we sum up the benefits of this buoy as a sensor platform for a wide variety of projects… The low total cost of ownership; web portal for remote configuration and real-time data monitoring; secure, uninterrupted data collection; and many sensor options (including custom integration). This is the first in a series of articles, in which we will dive further into the different aspects of the ToughBoy data buoy.

Lowest total cost of ownership

Firstly, the ToughBoy is highly robust, resistant to damage from wave, wind and collisions. The ToughBoy offers a vastly reduced risk of the buoy suffering damages or being lost. Not only thanks to the buoy’s robust design with advanced mooring technology and built-in buoyancy material – it also has an alarm function, which is triggered if the wave buoy should move beyond a pre-defined guard zone.

Secondly, this data collection buoy has very low service and communications costs. There are long intervals between service inspections thanks to electronics with low power consumption and intelligent solar powered battery charging – meaning less man hours. Learn more about how EIVA designed the ToughBoy to be operational for a minimum of 12 months between battery changes under conditions similar to those found in the North Sea, where there is far less sun energy to harvest than in areas closer to equator.

Not only is the ToughBoy designed to be infrequently serviced, but to be easily serviced with as few tools (and easily available tools) as possible – facilitating uncomplicated offshore service operations – which don’t require a specially trained crew. The buoy is easily handled, it needs no support to stand when it is not in the water, and the battery assembly is designed to ensure that the service crew is not exposed to the risk of gas explosion. Altogether, this adds up to a safer work-environment.

'Even without being a technician, we found the ToughBoy was easy to assemble and use. We pretty much didn’t have to do anything more than put it in the water.' – Ole Smith, WSP, said about his experience using the ToughBoy in a case study.

Remote configuration and reliable real-time data monitoring in web-portal

With the ToughBoy, you get remote access to your data in near real-time in EIVA’s web-based platform ToughBoy Onshore. This software is used for remote configuration of your buoy, data retrieval (data can be viewed intuitively in the portal and exported to excel sheets for documentation), checking battery status and position monitoring. You can also receive notifications about your buoy over e-mail. 

Some customers like to DIY their data display! While the data can be viewed in ToughBoy Onshore, it can alternatively be used in an external system if customers prefer their own portal. This is done by setting it up to export from EIVA’s system in real time.

WSP did this to create a custom display allowing SBJV to easily access all relevant information in the same display. In this case, that meant displaying both the real-time data from the ToughBoy and predicted weather conditions from the local weather authorities.

Secure, uninterrupted data

The ToughBoy backs up your data automatically on EIVA’s server and on the buoy itself. This means your data is secure at all times. In addition to data security, ToughBoy customers often need to ensure that data collection is uninterrupted. To avoid the enormous cost which even a single day’s delay to projects such as offshore construction can cost, customers sometimes purchase a spare buoy to ensure they have a safety backup should anything befall the first buoy. An alternative is that EIVA can keep a spare ToughBoy on ‘standby’ – a solution EIVA first developed for customer wpd.

Many sensor integration options – customisability for matching project requirements

Did you know that the ToughBoy data collection buoy interfaces to many sensors, such as wave, current, weather, tide and any manner of oceanographic sensors? The sensors can be equipped on the buoy, in subsea pods or in a frame bottom-mounted to the seabed. Plus, the EIVA team is happy to customise it to your needs, meaning you can get a marine data monitoring buoy that perfectly matches the setup you’re looking for. Learn more in the second article in this series.

Don’t forget to follow our social media and/or newsletter to stay tuned for our next article on the ToughBoy – diving into the possibilities for sensor integration.

If you’d like these benefits to float in your project’s waters, you can dive into our webshop or reach out to learn more.