NuShuttle

The NνShuttle is a stable, very robust, versatile undulating towed vehicle for the deployment of a wide range of oceanographic monitoring equipment. Developed by Chelsea Technologies Group & the Plymouth Marine Laboratory, UK, NνShuttle has been designed to meet the requirements for a low cost, large payload vehicle which retains the hydrodynamic performance of its sister vehicle, AQUAshuttle. NνShuttle has a large, uncluttered cargo bay of some 100 litres capacity and can fly with an expansive suite of instruments for the measurement of parameters such as conductivity, temperature, depth, chlorophyll, hydrocarbon and Gelbstoff fluorescence, turbidity, optical transmittance, bioluminescence, nutrient, redox and dissolved oxygen. It also has capacity to carry a mechanical Plankton Sampler or an Optical Plankton Counter. NνShuttle has been designed to accommodate the new generation of oceanographic sensors such as the Fast Repetition Rate fluorometer FASTocean which gives oceanographers a unique insight into phytoplankton health.

NνShuttle can be towed from research vessels and ships of opportunity at speeds of 5 to 15 knots, to operational depths of >150m. It can be launched and recovered while the vessel is underway, by a non-scientific crew with minimal training. NνShuttle is self-contained, with an independent power source and an integral servo control system driving the elevator. The required undulation path is adjustable and the depth and pitch parameters are stored in solid-state onboard memory. These parameters are set over the RS422 communications interface and can be downloaded either prior to launch or during deployment in real-time. The stand-alone capability, ease of handling, high data rate and versatility of sensor & sampling packages make this a cost effective and productive platform for large scale data collection.

The standard NνShuttle package comprises the underwater vehicle, alternator and servo control system.