Users of data collection buoys often need to view their marine data remotely in real time, whether it’s oceanographic, meteorological or environmental… For example, to gain an understanding of when it’s safe to sail out to a wind farm or offshore construction site – or to handle emergencies as quickly as possible.

In this, the third instalment in a series of articles on EIVA’s ToughBoy data buoy, we will showcase how this buoy lets you easily take control of your buoy’s data collection – online from wherever you are!

The Toughboy Onshore web portal enables ToughBoy users to…

• Remotely configure your buoy’s data collection
• Retrieve and display data from your ToughBoy
• Check battery status and monitor position of your data buoy
• Set up notifications sent to you over email, including alarms

We’ll dive into each of these features and their applications below.

Remote configuration of ToughBoy data collection

ToughBoy Onshore, the operating firmware of the ToughBoy, supports energy efficiency and ensures transmission costs are kept at a minimum – through onboard data processing. The ToughBoy Onshore firmware runs your raw sensor data through custom algorithms so you can choose to transmit only the most significant and meaningful insights.

To configure your data collection, you can define several factors:

• How your buoy transmits data
• What data is sent
• Frequency of transmission intervals

The EIVA team can update these settings for you whenever you need.

Always just a link away: ToughBoy Onshore

The ToughBoy Onshore’s simple web interface makes data visualisation a breeze. In it, you can intuitively navigate the data of each sensor in configurable graphs, or you can export the data for documentation in the form of Excel sheets.

In addition, if you deploy several buoys, you can look at the Buoy Overview display to keep track of their data simultaneously, as shown below. 

Some like to DIY their data view

In addition to viewing your buoy’s data in ToughBoy Onshore, you can alternatively choose to view it in an external system of your choice. All data collected from the ToughBoy is stored in an open format for easy import into various software for post-processing – so you can export data from EIVA’s system in real time. Simply reach out to the EIVA team to get this set up.

One ToughBoy user, WSP, chose to export the data into their own platform, which shows the data from their ToughBoy data buoy in combination with predictions from DMI, the Danish meteorological institute. WSP was hired by SBJV to provide a solution for knowing when they can or cannot operate on offshore construction of the Storstrøm bridge.

Safe, efficient operation with real-time monitoring of your data buoy

Typically, a data buoy is deployed to collect data over extended periods of time – not just months, but years. The ToughBoy is designed to provide this long-term operational independence even in rough weather conditions – through robust materials and intelligent power handling. In addition, it also allows you to monitor data such as position and battery usage to further optimise your long-term data collection operations.

Notifications help you react quickly to data

Alerts are another way in which the ToughBoy Onshore web portal supports your data buoy’s safe operation over time. The software monitors your buoy for activity you should be notified about as soon as possible, such as:

• Power failure
• Data loss
• Buoy moving from its position (for example in the unfortunate event that a vessel collides with it): You can define a guard zone radius for your data buoy and if it leaves that zone, the software will send a warning.

If one of these things should occur, you will receive an automated email notifying you of the alert and describing the error. Thanks to this, even if something should befall your buoy, you can take quick action to ensure as little interruption to your data collection as possible. When servicing the buoy, you may choose to temporarily replace it with a spare safety backup.

Some customers, instead of purchasing a spare buoy, pay a fee for EIVA to keep a spare ToughBoy on standby for them – a solution EIVA first developed for customer wpd.

Stay tuned for the next ToughBoy article!

Did you know that your ToughBoy automatically stores a backup? We will dive into this in the upcoming fourth article in this ToughBoy series – focusing on the ToughBoy data buoy’s secure, uninterrupted data collection.

Follow the EIVA cruise and we’ll let you know when it’s released into the waters of our website!