Outline of Research
This position is funded by The Marine Institute under the Cullen Fellowship Programme which provides fellowships (with generous monthly stipend and paid university research fees) to postgraduates to work on research projects relevant to the Marine Institute whilst studying for a higher degree. The fellow will normally be located at the Marine Institute Oceanographic Services Section in Rinville, Oranmore, Co Galway for the duration of the fellowship. This studentship is run in partnership between the Marine Institute and the University of Limerick (Mobile & Marine Robotics Research Centre) where the candidate will be registered for research PhD.
Project Description:
The project focus is to develop lower cost ocean sensor and instrumentation systems for use in coastal ocean observation and the project will seek to address some of the challenges as set out in the Background Section below. Research activities will include design of sensor systems, instrumentation and control engineering, embedded programming, systems interconnection and integration, applicable to off shore ocean monitoring. The fellowship will encompass research, design, build, field test and transition to operational use of leading edge technologies for routine low-cost ocean observation. Strategies for long-term deployment including anti-fouling measures, power and data management will be important to the success of this fellowship.
The PhD student will work under the academic supervision of Dr. Daniel Toal in UL with a co-supervisor in the Marine Institute. This project will benefit from the operational and research strengths of the Marine Institute and the Mobile & Marine Robotics Research Centre at the University of Limerick.
It is desirable that the student has work experience in electrical/electronic/control engineering, marine technology or related discipline and be capable of operating within a team environment. The candidate will have a particular responsibility for assuring the quality of the experimental work, writing of interim reports and drafting journal publications.
Essential Attributes of Candidate
· First-class, upper second-class honours degree or equivalent in electrical/electronic/mechanical engineering, marine science/technology or related discipline.
· An interest in marine technology.
· Strong computational / computer skills with experience in at least one of C/C++ and/or MATLAB.
· Strong verbal and written communication skills.
· Ability to write concise and accessible reports for both specialist and non-specialist audiences.
Desirable Attributes
· Experience of research in an academic environment.
· Knowledge of oceanography or earth science and a strong numerate capability.
· Familiarity with qualitative and quantitative research methods.
· Work experience in electrical/control engineering or marine technology/operations.
Personal Attributes
· A strong team player with good interpersonal skills, able to build and sustain effective working relationships both with colleagues, students and supervisors.
· A self-motivated researcher willing to develop their technical and analytical skills and to contribute to the overall aims of the Project.
· Strong organisational skills with high level of attention to detail.
This exciting funded PhD project has start date from September 2015. For enquiries contact:
* Dr Daniel Toal, Director MMRRC, 061 202264, . Supervisor, UL. Address: Department of Electronic & Computer Engineering, University of Limerick, Castletroy, Co Limerick, Ireland.
* Dr Guy Westbrook, Marine Institute, Rinville, Oranmore, Co Galway, 091 387200, Co-Supervisor, Marine Institute
If interested in this position please make contact by phone or e-mail and forward a detailed CV and cover letter. Please mark the subject line of e-mails and /or any hardcopy correspondence: - “Cullen Fellowship”.
Background
Ocean observation systemsChallenges in development of leading edge technologies for routine low-cost ocean observation.
1. Marine Sensor Technology Power.
Available Energy Challenge: If ocean monitoring systems are connected to power cable to shore such as in the context of cabled ocean observatories, energy availability to sensors/platform is not a significant issue. For most other marine sensing / ocean monitoring applications, availability of energy is a challenge that must be addressed.
a. Mixed energy generation and storage, wind, solar, wave converter devices, high energy density batteries on the sensor platform – buoy.
b. Energy management and conservation. Design and development of systems that manage the available energy resource.
2. Real-time High Bandwidth Communications Challenge for Remote Sensing Platforms.
In near shore marine sensing applications, GSM, Wi-Fi and Wi-Max radio based communications solutions may be used in marine sensing. In the context of further off shore marine sensing applications, or in remote regions with poor coverage of GSM, Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, low data volume communications from sensor platforms can be achieved with VHF and other links but high bandwidth real-time data links are not readily available.
a. Ka band satellite communications and use of UHF bandwidth may make possible the transmission in real-time of signals such as video feeds potentially enabling remote intervention far offshore. With either extended horizon comms using bespoke networks with available infrastructure at sea or satellite comms (Ka band, S band, etc) there may be the potential to realise a first and therefore achieve significant contribution in enabling sensor platform operation in far remote offshore locations.
b. Remote presence – Given high bandwidth real-time comms can be achieved, it is then possible to address the challenge of demonstrating remote monitoring and control with remote link to sensor platforms with installed sensors and mini ROV. If real-time remote control and intervention (with a mini ROV connected to a sensor platform – ocean observatory) with high bandwidth video link can be realised, then other ocean sensing applications with lower data volume and without the need for real-time high bandwidth comms can also be achieved.
3. Requirement for System Robustness in Remote System against Failure and or Comms Interruption.
a. For many marine sensing applications there is no requirement for real-time remote control of the sensor device. For applications with real-time comms requirement, what happens if comms becomes intermittent or is lost completely, for examp0le while a mini ROV is being flown in a monitoring operation? This can potentially be accommodated through distributed design with time critical controllers located at the mini ROV/sensor platform end and only human command level set point information sent across the comms channel.
4. Sensor Platform development and Mini ROV docking and engineering for long endurance survival at sea.
a. Long endurance systems need substantial work on engineering, garaging, docking, marine handling, anti-fouling, etc.