USCG BUOY STATUS MONITOR

THE OBJECT OF THIS WORK IS TO DEVELOP A PROOF OF CONCEPT PROTOTYPE BUOY STATUS MONITOR AND REPORTING SYSTEM DESIGN WHICH WILL BE A PART OF A SINGLE UNIT INSTALLED ON A BUOY'S STRUCTURE. THIS SYSTEM INTERFACES WITH THE BUOY PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER SUPPLY AND THE BUOY POSITION MONITORING SYSTEM FOR COMMUNICATION WITH REMOTE MONITORING STATIONS. THE SYSTEM WILL BE MODULAR AND EXTENDABLE ALLOWING MODULES SUPPORTING A VARIETY OF FUNCTIONS TO BE EASILY INTEGRATED. IT WILL BE CAPABLE OF REMOTE COMMUNICATION UTILIZING A BROAD RANGE OF EQUIPMENT AS WELL AS INTERFACING WITH THE BUOY POSITION DETERMINATION SYSTEM. THE SYSTEM PACKAGE WILLBE MODULAR AS WELL, USING A STANDARD MODULE AND ELECTRONICS WHICH WILL MINIMIZE COST AND FACILITATE SYSTEM INTEGRATION. THERE ARE NUMEROUS APPLICATIONS OF THIS WORK IN BOTH THE GOVERNMENT AND PRIVATE SECTORS. GOVERNMENT USERS INCLUDE: DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR AND ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS WHO BOTH MAINTAIN REMOTE DATA COLLECTION SYSTEMS. ADDITIONALLY, NOAAHAS MANY WEATHER DATA COLLECTION SYSTEMS (SOME BUOY MOUNTED). MANY APPLICATIONS EXIST FOR SMALL SYSTEMS THAT MUST OPERATE AUTONOMOUSLY, RANGING FROM WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT TO PIPELINE MONITORING STATIONS OR MOBILE VEHICULAR MONITORING SYSTEMS. THE MANY CAPABILITIES OF THE PROPOSED SYSTEM COULD MAKE PREVIOUSLY IMPRACTICAL SYSTEM CONCEPTS AVAILABLE FOR USE.