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doi:10.3723/ut.30.

189 International Journal of the Society for Underwater Technology, Vol 30, No 4, pp 189194, 2012

GPS diving computer for underwater tracking and mapping


Benjamin Kuch*1, Giorgio Buttazzo1, Elaine Azzopardi2, Martin Sayer2 and Arne Sieber3,4 1 Scuola Superiore SantAnna RETIS Lab, Italy
2 3 4

Scottish Association for Marine Science, UK Institute of Micro and Nanotechnology (IMEGO AB), Sweden Seabear Diving Technology, Austria

Abstract
Obtaining accurate and affordable geo-referencing is not straightforward for divers because there is a lack of throughwater penetration by global positioning systems (GPS). Although a number of commercially available systems exist, few are low-cost or operationally flexible enough for use in scientific diving. The present paper details a new GPS diving computer that supports navigation and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) underwater. The unit displays the distance and heading information to set points and tracks the dive in three dimensions (position, depth and time). When downloaded, the tracked dive profile can be visualised in 3D in Google Earth. By synchronising the dive computer clock to external recording devices (for example, cameras), any recording event can be geo-referenced with attached data relating to GPS position, temperature and depth. Keywords: underwater navigation, diver positioning, global positioning system (GPS), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), diving computer

1. Introduction
A major challenge for occupational divers is acquiring accurate navigation and positioning underwater mainly because the diver is moving in a three-dimensional space and, quite often, there are limitations to being able to visualise reference points in conditions of low water clarity. Advanced technical solutions to this problem exist in the form of ultra-short baseline (USBL; sometimes called super-short baseline (SSBL)) and long baseline (LBL) acoustic positioning systems. USBLs allow for multiple subsea targets to be accurately positioned relative to a surface vessel (e.g. remotely operated vehicle (ROV), tow fish), while LBLs provide a method of accurate positioning over a wide area using transponder separations from 100m to several kilometres. Invariably, USBL or LBL technologies are used to position ROVs or unmanned
* Contact author. E-mail address: benjamin.kuch@gmx.de

underwater vehicles computing relatively basic triangulations between the vehicle-mounted transducer and an array of seabed transponders (e.g. Scheirer et al., 2000). Coupling USBL with an inertial navigation system (INS) can enhance vehicle position and orientation estimates (Morgado et al., 2006). Another way to navigate underwater is to use an acoustic tracking beacon and a receiver station (which may have GPS positioning) with a set of hydrophones (underwater microphones). The beacon continuously sends out an acoustic signal, which is received by the hydrophones. Distance is then calculated by the signal runtime, and the target direction is measured by the phase shift between the different hydrophones (Gamroth et al., 2011). Most of these systems require preparation time, since specific hardware needs to be deployed before the dive. In addition, inaccuracies can occur since acoustic signals may get disturbed by environmental noise, or may get blocked or reflected by larger objects like wrecks or big rocks. Furthermore, the velocity of sound changes with temperature, salinity and pressure, all of which reduces accuracy as well. Positioning of unmanned underwater vehicles typically makes use of an inertial measurement unit (IMU) in combination with a Doppler velocity log (Lee et. al., 2005; Willumsen et. al., 2006; Huang et. al., 2010; Miller et al., 2010). The IMU computes orientation and heading using a three-axial gyroscope. Since a gyroscope drifts over time, the values are corrected by a three-axial accelerometer and a three-axial magnetometer values using advanced signal processing techniques like the Kalman or Complementary filter (Marins et. al., 2001; Madgwick, 2010). If the direction is known, the position can be calculated by multiplying the velocity provided by the Doppler velocity log. Such a navigation system also exists for divers (Hartman et al., 2008), but is bulky (31 37 33cm), heavy (12kg) and expensive (several tens of thousands of euros).
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Technical Paper

Kuch et al. GPS diving computer for underwater tracking and mapping

INS uses just an IMU to calculate the actual position via dead reckoning, whereby accelerations and orientations are assessed in fixed time intervals (ti). INS calculates orientation using three-axial gyroscopes, accelerometers and magnetometers (as described earlier), which is then used to project the local acceleration vector of the IMU local coordinate frame into the global earth coordinate frame. The global velocity vector can be computed using a gravity-compensated acceleration vector multiplied by ti; the final global position is the product of the global velocity vector, multiplied again by ti. Unfortunately, dead reckoning purely based on IMUs works just for short time periods and only on fast accelerating objects like rockets or airplanes. Dead reckoning of a diver in 3D and purely based on inertial navigation is extremely challenging, mainly because diver accelerations are small compared to gravity (Kuch et al., 2011). Current underwater navigation systems that have been developed or adopted for diving applications either are not cost-effective for relatively small and mobile operations, or are based on evolving technologies. The main objective of this study is to develop an easy-to-use, lightweight and cheap underwater navigation system based on GPS, since GPS is not available underwater because the electromagnetic waves from its satellites do not penetrate water. Therefore, for any low-cost option, it is necessary to have the GPS receiver on surface, floating above the diver. Previous studies have used GPS receivers mounted in surface marker buoys above divers in isolation. Matching the time code of the GPS downloads to specific underwater events generated approximate geo-referencing (e.g. Collins and Baldock, 2007). The present study aims to further develop this approach through developing an in situ dive computer that is able to communicate with the GPS receiver and record the whole dive track and depth profile. In doing so, it is intended that the diver would be able to enter GPS coordinates as set points, show distance and angle to these preset GPS set points while also providing a tool to incorporate GPS coordinates, temperature and depth into the International Press Telecommunications Council (IPTC, 2012) metadata files of any photographs taken during the dive. Finally, the present study will provide a tool by which downloaded dive profiles from the computer can be visualised in 3D.

Fig 1: Hardware diagram

The diving computer comprised mainly of a microcontroller, a pressure sensor, a flash memory chip and a display (Koss and Sieber, 2011). The computer had one serial port for communication with external hardware as described by Kuch et al. (2010). The diving computer was mounted on a reel (diameter 12cm), which carried the cable connecting the GPS transmitter to the diving computer. The transmitter was the Telit GM862-GPS module, which also included a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) modem. Communication between the diving computer and buoy-system was via serial communication (four-wire cable: received data (RXD), transmitted data (TXD), mass, on/off switch). The wire was not specially shielded because of the lack of any electromagnetic compatibility issues underwater. The communication speed was 9600 baud and the overall low power consumption permitted the whole unit to be powered by a single 3V AA battery. The buoy-system was powered by a rechargeable lithiumion mobile phone battery (1800mAh).

2. Methods
2.1. System hardware The hardware consisted of a scuba buoy-system with an attached modified diving computer (Fig 1).
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2.2. System software 2.2.1. Firmware The firmware of the device was developed in the programming language C in the IAR Embedded Workbench (IAR Systems) development environment. The diving computer acquired and displayed data, and depth, temperature and time were

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recorded. In addition, the GPS data were received by the computer unit over the serial interface. A menu-based user interface could be used to set up time/date, enter the PC transmission mode and handle GSM/GPS actions. The basic GPS function of the diving computer was to store GPS data in the flash memory in 1sec intervals throughout the dive. In addition, event positions were stored via the GPS menu. An integrated homing function allowed the user to choose preset points forming reference points to which the diver could reverse navigate, with distance and direction to that set point being shown on the display (Kaplan, 2005). The short message service (SMS) supported two different kinds of pre-defined message to be sent to a pre-defined mobile phone number (configured within the PC software). One type was an emergency SMS including the actual depth and GPS coordinates of the diver at the time of sending, and the other was the actual depth and GPS coordinates. To be able to handle all necessary data tasks (acquisition, storage, visualisation and computation) simultaneously, the firmware contained a scheduling mechanism that handled time-critical tasks within interrupt routines. Depth measurements and display updates were made within a timer interrupt occurring in 250ms intervals. Reception of GPS/GSM tasks was done in the USART (universal synchronous/asynchronous receiver/transmitter) interrupt. Position calculations, data storage and SMS transmission were done in the main loop.

2.2.2. PC software The PC software was developed in Java 1.6 under the Eclipse SDK 3.4.1 and the Eclipse Standard Widget Toolkit to keep it platform independent. RXTX 2.1 was chosen as the serial communication library. The software provided a management and configuration suite consisting of three major features. The first was configuration of the navigation system which permitted all adjustments, such as GSM settings and time synchronisation, to be set. The second feature of the software converted dive data transfer into an output file that could support visualising the data in 3D. The dive data would then need to be downloaded via the PC software and converted afterwards. Dive profiles were converted into the keyhole mark-up language (KML) format. KML is the extensible mark-up language (XML) notation for expressing geographic annotation and visualisation data and had been specifically designed for use with the Google Earth application. Google Earth was the chosen platform for displaying the recorded data, as it already provides a framework by which to visualise 3D objects inside a map without further programming necessary. Irrespective of that, KML files can be imported to 3DS or Blender with some minor re-formatting. Since only viewed parts of the ocean are mapped in Google Earth, the PC software converted the depth profile into an altitude profile (Fig 2). Although Google Earth can display a depth profile, there is no method to correct the anomaly that the profile was showing above sea level. The dive

Fig 2: KML-generated profile of an example dive using the experimental unit and opened in Google Earth

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data were also converted into a comma separated value (CSV) file, which can be easily analysed using Microsoft Excel. The final feature of the PC software permitted the addition of GPS, date/time and depth information into a photograph taken during a dive. Before a dive was undertaken, the internal clocks of the diving computer and the camera were timesynchronised. Most digital image file formats contain, beside the image itself, a metadata container for image information. Metadata files are defined in the exchangeable image file (EXIF) format and the IPTC standard (IPTC, 2012). The EXIF metadata container contains data about the basic image that was taken (camera manufacturer, camera model, image resolution, ISO ratings, aperture, exposure, etc.). The IPTC metadata container contains additional image information (photographer, copyright, image description, keywords, etc.). Typically GPS data were stored as a metadata attribute in the EXIF format. However, there were no fields available for additional information like depth or water temperature. To avoid dividing the storage of position, depth and temperature data in different locations and formats, all the data were stored together as a defined string into the IPTC caption feature. If the picture timestamp matched the timestamp stored inside the KML file by 2sec, the IPTC metadata container was updated (Fig 3).

Fig 4: GPS diving computer prototype mounted on a cable reel

3. Results
One prototype was manufactured (Fig 4). The handset was housed in an aluminium case and encapsulated with silicone gel to ensure water resistance up

to 300m. The buoy-system was housed in a modified drybox (Dive Egg: inside diameter of 5cm; height of 10cm; Mares specified to 50m). The diving computer and buoy-system were connected to each other via a 50m-long four-wire cable. To be able to recharge the buoy-system battery, a waterproof (IP68 rated) charging connector was placed at the side of the buoy-system. The final system was small and compact, with the cable between diving computer and buoy-system having a diameter of 3mm and thus not thicker than a regular buoy-line. The prototype was tested in the Mediterranean Sea, where several dives in Labin, Croatia, and Livorno, Italy, were tracked and visualised in Google Earth, including the depth profile. The positional accuracy of the system was estimated (using charted features such as underwater cliffs) to be less than 5m. The IPTC data of the photographs taken during

Fig 3: IPTC metadata with the addition of GPS, depth and temperature information

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Fig 5: Illustration of the difficulty in maintaining the buoy directly above the diver: (a) shallow dive with optimal sea surface conditions; and (b) deep dive with rough sea surface conditions

the dives were all complemented by position, depth and temperature information.

4. Discussion
A prototype GPS diving computer was developed and proved to support underwater navigation and GSM communication. Although not tested methodically in the present study, this fairly basic and lowcost device provided a realistic 3D representation of the dive profile while, at the same time, providing the capability to geo-reference still photographs with reasonable accuracy. With any cable connected device, accuracy will always be dependent on the ability to maintain the buoy over the top of the diver as precisely as possible (Schories and Niedzwiedz, 2012). However, there are numerous factors which make this difficult to achieve. Under optimal conditions the accuracy of the GPS receiver is <2.5m, but in windy and rough sea surface conditions or with current, it is difficult to maintain the buoys position. That accuracy will also be compromised as soon as the diver tries to move horizontally through the water column, as the effect of this movement (particularly the drag on the cable) will be multiplied as the diver moves to greater depths (Fig 5). It is, therefore, suggested that this system, as it is presently configured, will provide relatively accurate results in shallow water, in favourable weather conditions and at stationary locations. In their study on the precision and accuracy of diver-towed underwater GPS receivers, Schories and Niedzwiedz (2012) modelled and recorded GPS displacements of 2.3m in 5m depth; 3.2m in 10m depth; 4.6m in 20m depth; 5.5m at 30m depth; and 6.8m in 40m depth. The unit in the present study gives the diver in situ and real-time information on positioning, so overall accuracy may not be quite as relevant when

employing the added capabilities of navigating to fixed points and/or adding geo-referencing data to photographs. The integration of additional flow sensors on the surface buoy could help compensate for some of the measurement error. This information could be further integrated with data of the divers depth and the length of the unrolled cable, thereby giving an estimate the buoy drift during the dive. Although this solution would improve accuracy it would also require additional hardware and processing power.

Acknowledgement
Special thanks to Martin Henke for his contribution of the illustrations in Fig 5.

References
Collins KJ and Baldock B. (2007). Use of diving computers in brittlestar surveys. Underwater Technology 27: 115118. Gamroth E, Kennedy J and Bradley C. (2011). Design and testing of an acoustic ranging technique applicable for an underwater positioning system. Underwater Technology 29: 183193. Hartman R, Hawkinson W, Sweeney K and Gurgaon H. (2008). Tactical underwater navigation system (TUNS). In: Proc. Position, Location and Navigation Symposium. New York: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 898911. Huang L, He B and Zhang T. (2010). An autonomous navigation algorithm for underwater vehicles based on inertial measurement units and sonar. In: Proc. 2nd Intl Asia Conf Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics, vol 6, 311314. International Press Telecommunications Council. (2012). IPTC Standards. Available at www.iptc.org, last accessed <03 February 2012>. Kaplan ED. (2005). Understanding GPS: Principles and Applications, second edition. Boston: Artech House, 726pp. Koss B and Sieber A. (2011). Head-mounted display for diving computer platform. Journal of Display Technology 7: 193199. Kuch B, Haasl S, Wagner M, Buttazzo G and Sieber A. (2011). Preliminary report: Embedded platform for inertial based

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Miller PA, Farrell JA, Zhao Y and Djapic V. (2010). Autonomous underwater vehicle navigation. IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering 35: 663678. Morgado M, Oliveira P, Silvestre C and Vasconcelos JF. (2006). USBL/INS tightly-coupled integration technique for underwater vehicles. In: Proc. 9th Intl. Conf. on Information Fusion. New York: IEEE, 8pp. Scheirer DS, Fornari DJ, Humphris SE and Lerner S. (2000). High-resolution seafloor mapping using the DSL-120 sonar system: Quantitative assessment of sidescan and phase-bathymetry data from the Lucky Strike segment of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Marine Geophysical Research 21: 121142. Schories D and Niedzwiedz G. (2012). Precision, accuracy, and application of diver-towed underwater GPS receivers. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 184: 23592372. Willumsen AB, Hallingstad O and Jalving B. (2006). Integration of range, bearing and Doppler measurements from transponders into underwater vehicle navigation systems. Proc. Oceans 2006: 16.

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