UT Dallas Disaster Team uses Eureka Probes in Dangerous Environments
Solinst Eureka
2113 Wells Branch Pkwy, Suite 4400
Austin, TX, USA
78728
Tel: +1 512-302-4333
Fax: +1 512-251-6842
email: [email protected]
Overview
The University of Texas/Dallas is developing a method to assess environmental sites that might be dangerous or challenging for humans to enter, such as after a hurricane, oil spill, chemical leak, or other disasters. They have designed an autonomous, integrated robotic system using an unmanned boat, unmanned aircraft, and ground robots. These devices can access and navigate areas that are difficult to reach and dangerous for humans, such as aquatic environments.
Challenge:
The challenge is to develop a more effective method to gain information about an environment that might be inaccessible to humans (in the case of a natural disaster, for example) and keep humans safe in potentially dangerous areas as they attempt to gather data to determine the conditions of air and water. Further, the sensors used in the past to collect data to study air and water quality have been expensive, cumbersome, and not able to provide critical information in an efficient, timely manner.
Solution:
In addition to robotic equipment used from air and land, the UT team is using autonomous boats to determine water quality. Three Solinst Eureka Manta probes were placed under the boat that gathers important information such as temperature, turbidity, conductivity, and aquatic vegetation. The probes provide valuable, real-time information which would prove vital in rapidly addressing water conditions.
Result:
The UT/Dallas team has successfully developed a fleet of autonomous robots that work together and can rapidly learn the characteristics of environments they had not seen before. The data they collect is comprehensive and streamed immediately, in real time, making it safer and more accurate for disaster teams to quickly determine what solutions are needed to address the problems they face.
From The Dallas Morning News:
Journal article:
Manta Series Water Quality Probes
Solinst Eureka offers the largest selection of water quality sensor technologies in the industry. So in addition to standard configurations, each probe may be customized for your specific application. Pick sensors of your choice to fully populate larger probes, or add a battery pack to convert a probe to a logging device.
Manta Trimeter Water Quality Probe
The Trimeter holds any one sensor* from the Sensor Parameters list, Plus temperature and depth sensors (both are optional). For example, a Trimeter configuration could be turbidity, temperature, and depth. Another example could be DO and temperature.
EasyProbe: Water Quality Sondes
The EasyProbe, by Solinst Eureka, is a high-performance, cost-effective water quality monitor. It's ideal for spot-checking, remote telemetry, education, research, aquaculture, and more. The EasyProbe20 includes sensors for temperature, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, and pH, while the EasyProbe30 adds a turbidity sensor. Eureka multiprobes are known for their reliability, with a three-year warranty covering all sensors, and have the lowest maintenance costs in the industry.
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TLC Meter – Measure Accurate Temperature, Level & Conductivity
A TLC Meter provides accurate, stable temperature and conductivity measurements, displayed on a convenient LCD display for easy reading. Static water level and depth of readings are read off Solinst flat tape, which is precisely laser-marked every mm or 1/100 ft. Tape lengths are available to 300 m (1000 ft).
