Heiti verkefnis : 

Fjarskipti við baujur með LoRa

Verkefnastjóri : 

Helmut Wolfram Neukirchen

Stutt lýsing á verkefninu:

Maritime navigation marks need to be installed with a high precision positioning. While Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), such as GPS, can be used, their precision is restricted, but can be improved using differential correction data provided by a Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS) at a nearby ground control point with a known position that distributes correction data over the Internet. However, while installing a floating buoy, an Internet connection may not always be available, for example, because the mobile phone or router that is used for Internet access is out of reach of a mobile phone base station located at the shore. LoRa is a novel long-range, low-power wireless networking technology for which a range of up to 83.6 km across the ocean has been reported.

This project aims at developing a research prototype system that can determine the position of a (floating) buoy using differential GNSS and LoRa to transmit the differential information via an Internet-connected LoRa gateway on the shore to the buoy, so that the system on the buoy can then send its precise position to the ship from where the buoy is being installed. 

Using the low-power LoRa wireless network together with a low-power Internet of Things (IoT) device, the system can be powered by battery (with optional power supply by a solar panel) and even remain on the buoy after installation so that it can be used for monitoring, e.g., report any drift of the buoy or data from any other sensor attached.

While we will use off-the-shelf IoT hardware for the prototype system, suitable software for such a system will be developed in this research project and further evaluated in field trials.

Tilgangur og markmið:

The objective of this research is to create and study a long-range, low power wireless network using the LoRa technology [https://www.semtech.com/lora]. LoRa can be used to transmit sensor data where no electrical grid or other communication networks are available, e.g. highlands, ocean, or after a disaster. For the ocean, ranges of up to 83.6 km have been reported [Radeta et al., 2020; Parri et al., 2019].
As a case study, a prototype system for transmitting differential correction data for Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), such as GPS, via LoRa will be developed: in addition to a LoRa transmitter that disseminates the GNSS correction data, a battery-powered LoRa device with a GNSS receiver will be used that can be installed on a buoy for precise positioning with respect to anchoring the buoy; even afterwards, it can report the position to seafarers through electronic and printed navigational charts: The device on the buoy sends its corrected location for the process of anchoring and afterwards, to report buoy drift. This prototype allows us to carry out experiments to validate the system’s performance and enable us to study realistic models in order to develop control algorithms that take context information into account, e.g. when to send or receive what data [Bayhan et al., 2016; Hyytiä et al., 2016].

References

• Bayhan,S., et al. (2016). Search in Digital Pockets: Retrieving Remote Content in Mobile Opportunistic Networks. DOI: 10.1109/MWC.2016.7498070
• Hyytiä, E., et al. (2016). On Search and Content Availability in Opportunistic Networks. DOI: 10.1016/j.comcom.2015.09.011
• Radeta, et al. (2020). LoRaquatica: Studying Range and Location Estimation using LoRa and IoT in Aquatic Sensing. DOI: 10.1109/PerComWorkshops48775.2020.9156088
• Parri, L., et al. (2019). Low Power Wide Area Networks (LP‐WAN) at Sea: Performance Analysis of Offshore Data Transmission by Means of LoRaWAN Connectivity for Marine Monitoring Applications. DOI: 10.3390/s19143239