1. Flight Across the Atlantic
University
Flight Across the Atlantic

2. What is an AUV/glider? Autonomous Underwater Vehicle
Remotely controlled through satellites
Connection available when glider is at the surface
Sampling devices
CTD (standard)
Optics
Chlorophyll
Turbidity
Light penetration

4. How they work Battery packs supply power to Buoyancy Driven
Control board
Sensors
Pump
Air Bladder
Buoyancy Driven
Buoyancy Pump

5. Communication Satellite Iridium phone Send new missions and waypoints
Receive data files from glider
Currents, Roll, Pitch, Heading, etc.

6. RU17 was deployed off the coast of New Jersey on May 21st at 1:25pm
The Adventure Begins…
Tests were run and everything looked good
Had lithium packs in it rather than alkalines
RU17 was deployed off the coast of New Jersey on May 21st at 1:25pm

7. On May 24th RU17 crossed the shelfbreak
Flew deep to avoid fishing boats
Flew from 30 to 90 meters
Goal was to pass through the shelf before memorial day fishing & boating activity
Only the 2nd time we tried the “fly deep” strategy to get across the shelf

8. RU17 entered the warmest waters of the Gulf Stream on May 31st
The Gulf Stream brought extremely fast currents
RU17’s speed increased to 222 cm per second

9. June 19 RU17 crossed the 2,000 km mark

10. RU17 continues to follow warm water currents
Sea Surface Temperature satellite data is used to select waypoint for glider
**Point out eddy currents

11. Sea Surface Temperature Satellite Data
Using sea surface temperature
Problems: cloud coverage and resolution

12. Altimetry Satellite Data
Switched from using sea surface temperature to using both sst and sea surface height
Sst: shows location in warm or cold core eddies
Ssh: shows velocity vectors of the water

13. On July 19th Tropical Storm Bertha passes over
RU17 reported increasing currents to the North

14. On August 20 RU17 reached 50.1% across the Atlantic Ocean

15. A month later RU17 reaches its
4 months & 5,000 km mark

16. On September 22nd RU17 gets stuck in an eddy
Inertial currents slow us down

17. Lap 2

18. RU17 is about 500 km away from Flores

19. October 27th Ru17 aborts mission for a leak
RU17 hit the inflection point at about 98 m
At about 47m (11 minutes into the ascent) the leak detects voltage changes
Within 2 minutes the voltage drops from about 1.1 to 1.05  
RU17 aborted for a leak and headed to the surface
Emergency rescue mission is planned
ABORT HISTORY: last abort cause: MS_ABORT_LEAK
sensor: m_vacuum(inHg)= secs ago
sensor: m_leakdetect_voltage(volts)= secs ago

20. On October 28th we lost connection with RU17
RU17 was within 20 km of the Azores EEZ line
Leak detect voltage drops to 0.42 volts
Lost connection with RU17

21. RU17’s full path

22. RU17 Accomplishments
RU17 flew a record breaking distance of 5, km
RU17 spent 160 days at sea (5 months and 1 week)

23. Changes made to RU27: the Stretch Glider for the 2nd Atlantic Crossing
CTD Mount
CTD mounts to glider on both ends so it is sturdier
Pressure Sensors
Now plastic rather then metal to prevent corrosion
200 meter pump
RU17 had a 100 meter pump
Biofoul Precautions
Rubberized hull coating
Biofoul paint
Aerodynamic Wingrails
Coulomb Meter
Measures the amount of power left in the batteries
Software
Better software for flying deep

24. RU 27 Test Flight
1)Power – coulomb meter test 2) Flight controls – Pitch 3) Fight controls – heading 4) Flight controls – vertical velocity, pitch, CTD flow
5) CTD Sampling – turning it on and off 6) Currents – being reported and processed 7) Stay deep behavior
8) Emergency weight 9) Pump performance
10) Air bladder test 11) Science computer 12) H-moment – where is it and how does it compare to RU17
***Update how everything went after RU27 is recovered

25. RU27 Mission Plan RU27 will be deployed off the coast of New Jersey
If we have any problems we have Nova Scotia as our emergency stop
After passing Nova Scotia our next emergency stop is the Azores
We are aiming to make it across the Atlantic Ocean and recover in Spain