2. Airborne Expendable Ice Buoy (AXIB)
Lincoln Maritime
Airborne Expendable Ice Buoy (AXIB)
Suitable for Polar Ice Zone Deployment

3. The AXIB project is being developed under an SBIR grant sponsored by the NOAA National Ice Center, Dr. Pablo Clemente-Colon, Director

4. AXIB-PENGUINTM Air-Deployable Meteorological Buoy
Adaptable to ice or water
Stays erect
Withstands extreme weather
Long life

5. LBI presents the AXIB-PENGUIN TM

6. AXIB Principal Features
Hull Design and Construction
Sensor Mast

7. Ice Anchor

8. Erection Leg System

9. Parachute Deployment System
Develop the preliminary deployment package design.
Solicit comments and input from JCOMMOPS, Coast Guard and U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office
Produce 5 dummy air drop shapes in the same configuration and weight as an operational AXIB for air drop tests.
Conduct air drop certification tests

10. Clearwater Oceanographic Instrumentation
Innovation and low cost have been hallmarks since the company's founding in 1989.
Worked with Scripps to develop prototype WOCE/SVP surface drifters
ClearSat 4.0TM provides great flexibility in adding new transducers and configuring transducer sampling and data conditioning.
ClearSat 4.0™ has been certified by Service Argos

11. Sensors and Communications Package
ClearSat 4.0
ARGOS or Iridium GPS Transmitter
Barometric Pressure
Air and Ice Temperature
Lithium Battery Pack

12. AXIB Enhancements Long life batteries (Lithium Thionyl Chloride)
Legs to erect to vertical on ice
Ice anchor

13. Testing and Certification
Battery package and electronic system.
Hot and cold temperature and temperature shock.
Shock and vibration.
Battery life and endurance
Complete AXIB tests.
Deployment shock.
Water born stability.
Leg and mast deployment.
Sensor performance.
Data processing and communications.

14. Prototype Tooling and Fabrication
Developed vacuum resin infusion tooling to yield a very strong hull with a high glass to resin ratio.
This allows efficient production of prototype buoys and additional operational units.

15. Deployment Systems and Certification
Projected air deployment certifications.
USCG HC-130
DOD C-130
Dehaviland Twin Otter
Helicopter
Sea deployment from ships
Potential for submarine deployment.

16. Field Deployment Tests
Local test installation in ice.
Sea surface deployment of 2 operational prototype AXIB’s in a Marginal Arctic Ice Zone and 1 air drop
Planned participation in Feb ’09 ice camp

17. Lake Champlain Test Installed in prepared hole in 1-ft ice
Position tracked by ARGOS
Submerged during ice breakup
AXIB recovered intact

18. USCGC Healy Test
Two AXIBs to be installed by ship in Chukchi Sea during August ’08 ice minimum
One AXIB in water at edge of ice shelf with 7-ft themistor chain
One AXIB in multi-year ice

19. Marketing and Commercialization
Attending various conferences and symposia
Applied for international patent
Developed marketing brochures
Contact with research and industrial organizations

20. SBIR Phase III Commercialization
Joint consortium effort of LBI, Lincoln Maritime and Clearwater.
Potential commercial applications.
International agencies and research institutions
Military and naval activities
Commercial activities such as offshore petroleum platforms
Polar tourism, excursions, and entertainment
Environmental groups, polar life conservation and fishing industries

21. Marketing Plan Market survey Target customers Generate Capital
Government Agencies
Ocean Research Organizations
Weather Services
Oil & gas industries
Generate Capital
Refine production costs

22. Summary
AXIB-PENGUIN consortium is highly capable of performing the proposed work.
The system will be a versatile and robust platform for collecting polar meteorological data.
We can develop other variants on this platform which is suited to many data gathering tasks in extreme northern and southern latitudes.