iXBlue GAPS User manual

GAPS
Carbon V.1
User Guide

GAPS – User Guide
MU-GAPS-AN-003 Ed. L – May 2012
i
Copyright
All rights reserved. No part of this guide may be reproduced or transmitted, in any
form or by any means, whether electronic, printed manual or otherwise, including
but not limited to photocopying, recording or information storage and retrieval
systems, for any purpose without prior written permission of iXBlue.
Disclaimer
iXBlue specifically disclaims all warranties, either express or implied, included but
not limited to implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular
purpose with respect to this product and documentation. iXBlue reserves the right
to revise or make changes or improvements to this product or documentation at any
time without notifying any person of such revision or improvements.
In no event shall iXBlue be liable for any consequential or incidental damages,
including but not limited to the loss of business profits or any commercial damages,
arising from the use of this product.
Trademarks
Microsoft, MS-DOS and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft
Corporation. Intel and Pentium are registered trademarks and Celeron is a
trademark of Intel Corporation.

GAPS – User Guide
MU-GAPS-AN-003 Ed. L – May 2012
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Warranty
iXBlue provides a standard warranty of one (1) year covering this product against any
defect in materials or manufacture. The warranty starts from the date of shipment of the
product from iXBlue’s manufacturing premises to customer’s location and its duration is
indicated in the certificate of warranty delivered with the product. In the event that a defect
in materials or manufacture becomes obvious during the stipulated warranty period,
iXBlue will undertake, at its sole discretion, either to repair the defective product, bearing
the cost of all parts and labor, or to replace it with an identical product.
In order to avail itself of this warranty, Customer must notify iXBlue of the defect before
expiry of the warranty period and take all steps necessary to enable iXBlue to proceed.
Customer shall be responsible for the packaging and the shipment of the defective
product to the repair center notified by iXBlue, the cost of such shipment being borne by
Customer. iXBlue agrees to bear the cost of return freight, based on CPT (Cost Paid To)
Customer’s airport location, import tax-free.
This warranty shall not be construed as covering defects, malfunctions or damages
caused by improper use or inadequate maintenance of the product. Under no
circumstances shall iXBlue be due to provide repair or replacement under this warranty in
order a) to repair damage caused by work done by any person not representing iXBlue for
the installation, repair or maintenance of the product ; b) to repair damage caused by
improper use or connection to incompatible equipment, and specifically, the opening of
the housing of the equipment under warranty shall cause the warranty to be automatically
cancelled ; c) to maintain any product that has been modified or integrated into a larger
configuration, if such modification or integration increases the duration or difficulty of the
maintenance of said product.
This warranty covers the product hereunder and is provided by iXBlue in place of all and
any other warranty whether expressed or implied. iXBlue does not guarantee the
suitability of the product under warranty for sale or any specific use. iXBlue’s liability is
limited to the repair or replacement of defective products, this being the sole remedy open
to Customer in the event the warranty becomes applicable. iXBlue cannot be held liable
for indirect, special, subsequent or consequential damage, irrespective of whether iXBlue
has or has not received prior notification of the risk of occurrence of such damage.

GAPS – User Guide
MU-GAPS-AN-003 Ed. L – May 2012
iii
Export Regulation
This product is classified as a dual-use good: it has been developed for non-military use,
but could be used for military applications.
As a consequence, this product is subject to dual-use goods export control procedures:
•iXBlue can deliver this product freely to France or any other country of the European
Union;
•iXBlue can export this product under its own Community General Export Authorization
EU 001 to the following countries: Australia, Canada, USA, Japan, New-Zealand,
Norway and Switzerland;
•iXBlue can also export this product to other countries but only through the issuance of
an individual export license by the French authorities.
Once in its country of first destination:
•From a country member of European Union, this product is free of movement (travel)
as long as it remains within the European Union;
•From a country member of European Union, this product can only be re-exported to a
non European Union member country under the dual-use goods export control
procedures set forth by the national authorities;
•From another country, this product can only be re-exported under both the conditions
of the original export license from France (depending on its type and content) and the
dual-use goods export control procedures set forth by the national authorities.
If an individual export license has to be issued by the French authorities, iXBlue requires
you to provide as needed a description of your usual activity (and the one of the end-user
if different) and the end-user to fill out an end-user certificate which includes:
•The description of the intended application of the product
•A commitment not to re-export the product (without applying for an export license to
the competent national authorities as set above).
This product cannot be exported or re-exported to Cuba, Syria, North Korea, Libya, Sudan
and Iran.

GAPS – User Guide
MU-GAPS-AN-003 Ed. L – May 2012
iv
Overview of GAPS User Guide
This document is the User Guide for iXBlue’s GAPS. It must be read and understood prior
to using the GAPS system. The manufacturer shall in no case be held liable for any
application or use that does not comply with the stipulations in this manual. This issue is
updated for use with GAPS MMI software 2.09.01 and higher.
The GAPS User Guide is divided into six parts:
•Part 1: Introduction and Technical Description
This section contains a general and technical description of GAPS as well as the technical
conventions that apply.
•Part 2: Installing GAPS
In this section you will find the procedure for installation the GAPS system, to assess its
geometrical configuration parameters, and to plan all connections to external systems.
•Part 3: Configuring GAPS
In this section you will find the procedure for GAPS configuration with the MMI Software. It
describes how to configure the GAPS unit and the transponders with all required
parameters before operating the system.
•Part 4: Operating GAPS
This section provides the full description of GAPS performance and operation.
•Part 5: Maintenance
This section provides the preventative and corrective maintenance for GAPS.
•Part 6: Library Interface
This section is the protocol library documentation for GAPS. It contains the description of
all available GAPS protocols.
The abbreviations and acronyms used in this manual are listed hereafter.

GAPS – User Guide
MU-GAPS-AN-003 Ed. L – May 2012
v
Text Usage
Bold Bold text is used for items you must select or click in the
software. It is also used for the field names used into the dialog
box.
Courier Text in this font denotes text or characters that you should enter
from the keyboard, the proper names of disk Drives, paths,
directories, programs, functions, filenames and extensions.
Italic Italic text is the result of an action in the procedures.
Icons
The Note icon indicates that the following information is of interest to the operator and
should be read.
T
HE C AUTION ICON INDICATES THAT THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION SHOULD BE READ TO FORBID
OR PREVENT PRODUCT DAMAGE .
T
HE W ARNING ICON INDICATES THAT POSSIBLE PERSONAL INJURY OR DEATH COULD RESULT
FROM FAILURE TO FOLLOW THE PROVIDED RECOMMENDATION .

GAPS – User Guide
MU-GAPS-AN-003 Ed. L – May 2012
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Abbreviations and Acronyms
DGPS Differential Global Positioning System
FOG Fiber Optical Gyroscope
GAPS Global Acoustic Positioning System
GPS Global Positioning System
IIF Individual Interrogation Frequency
IMU Inertial Measurement Unit
INS Inertial Navigation System
MMI Man Machine Interface
MFSK Multi-Frequency Shift Keying
NA Not Applicable
NIS Noise Isotropic Spectrum
NMEA National Marine Electronics Association
RTK Real-Time Kinematics
SNR Signal to Noise Ratio
USBL Ultra Short Base Line

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MU-GAPS-AN-003 Ed. L – May 2012
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Table of Contents
IINTRODUCTION AND TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION...................................................................................1
I.1System Overview .....................................................................................................................1
I.2Acoustic Positioning Principles.............................................................................................3
I.3Technical Description..............................................................................................................4
I.3.1Overview ...............................................................................................................................4
I.3.2GAPS Unit.............................................................................................................................5
I.3.3Acoustic Transponders .........................................................................................................6
I.3.3.1Acoustic Transponder MT8x2 and ET8x2 Series .................................................................7
I.3.3.2Acoustic Transponder BT812 Series ..................................................................................10
I.3.4Integrated DGPS.................................................................................................................10
I.4Conventions and Specifications ..........................................................................................11
I.4.1General Characteristics ......................................................................................................11
I.4.2Geometrical Conventions ...................................................................................................11
I.4.3Mechanical Specifications ..................................................................................................14
I.4.4Electrical Specifications ......................................................................................................15
IIINSTALLING GAPS.........................................................................................................................19
II.1Checking of the Pack Contents............................................................................................19
II.2Installing the Acoustic Antenna ...........................................................................................20
II.2.1Recommendations Prior to Installation...............................................................................20
II.2.1.1Noise Level .........................................................................................................................20
II.2.1.2Reflective Surfaces .............................................................................................................20
II.2.1.3Corrosion ............................................................................................................................20
II.2.2Installation Principles ..........................................................................................................21
II.2.3Deployment Examples........................................................................................................25
II.3Installing the Easy Connect Box ..........................................................................................28
II.3.1Connections on the Front Face ..........................................................................................29
II.3.2Connections on the Back Face...........................................................................................29
II.4Checking the Electrical Ground Continuity ........................................................................31
II.5Installing the GPS Antenna...................................................................................................32
II.5.1Installing an External GPS..................................................................................................32
II.5.2Installing the iXBlue DGPS .................................................................................................32
II.5.3Measuring the GPS Lever Arms .........................................................................................33
II.5.4Setting the GPS Time .........................................................................................................36
II.6Installing a Transponder .......................................................................................................36
IIICONFIGURING GAPS .....................................................................................................................37
III.1Installing the Man Machine Interface ...................................................................................37
III.2Overview of the Man Machine Interface ..............................................................................38
III.2.1Starting the Man Machine Interface....................................................................................38

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III.2.2Main Window ..................................................................................................................... 40
III.2.3Color Code......................................................................................................................... 41
III.3Configuring GAPS................................................................................................................. 42
III.3.1Configuring the Survey Parameters................................................................................... 42
III.3.2Configuring the System Parameters.................................................................................. 46
III.3.3Configuring the Serial Link................................................................................................. 48
III.3.4Configuring the Interface Parameters................................................................................ 49
III.3.5Configuring the GPS Parameters ...................................................................................... 50
III.3.6Configuring the Processor Parameters.............................................................................. 51
III.3.7Configuring the Acoustic Array Parameters....................................................................... 53
III.3.8Configuring the Output Parameters ................................................................................... 54
III.3.9Defining a Sound Velocity Profile ...................................................................................... 56
III.3.10Configuring the Transponder Parameters ......................................................................... 58
III.4Monitoring the GAPS in Operation...................................................................................... 64
III.4.1Controlling The Real Time Data ........................................................................................ 64
III.4.2Visualizing with the Absolute View .................................................................................... 65
III.4.3Visualizing with the Relative View ..................................................................................... 67
III.4.4Visualizing with the Depth View......................................................................................... 68
III.4.5Controlling the GAPS Status ............................................................................................. 69
III.5Recording the Data ............................................................................................................... 72
IVOPERATING GAPS ....................................................................................................................... 73
IV.1Performances ........................................................................................................................ 73
IV.1.1Position accuracy for MT8, MT9 and ET8 Transponders .................................................. 73
IV.1.2Multi Path ........................................................................................................................... 74
IV.1.3Range versus Noise Level ................................................................................................. 75
IV.1.4Accuracy versus SNR........................................................................................................ 76
IV.2Initializing and Configuring a Survey.................................................................................. 77
IV.2.1Operating Modes ............................................................................................................... 77
IV.2.1.1Synchronization Mode / Recurrence.................................................................................. 77
IV.2.1.2Two Modes ........................................................................................................................ 78
IV.2.1.3Multi Transponders Mode .................................................................................................. 78
IV.2.2Initializing GAPS ................................................................................................................ 79
IV.2.3Configuring the Mission Parameters.................................................................................. 82
IV.2.4Installing the transponders................................................................................................. 83
IV.3Monitoring the Survey .......................................................................................................... 84
IV.3.1Visualizing the Trajectory................................................................................................... 84
IV.3.2List of the System Status ................................................................................................... 84
IV.3.3List of the Warning Messages and Troubleshooting ......................................................... 85
IV.3.4Error Messages.................................................................................................................. 86