Spoondrift Spotter User manual

Spoondrift Spotter.
USER GUIDE

Spotter device.
Spotter Toolkit, which includes:
• 5mm hex key to open and close the lid of the Spotter
• 4mm hex key to disconnect electronics box from hull
• lanyard and magnet to switch from idle to run-mode
• USB cable to upload latest firmware
• power charger to charge the battery prior to deployment
• SD card for data storage during deployment (shipped with unit)
• desiccant with tape to attach to inside of hull before deployment
External ballast chain with bow shackle attached.
Spotter User Guide (this document).
What is included in this box?
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Spoondrift Spotter is an integrated solution for collecting ocean wave
data. The Spotter platform consists of a globally-connected Spotter
Device (“Spotter”) and the online Spotter Dashboard.
The Dashboard provides access to real-time Spotter wave and
tracking data, system status and alerts, data visualization, and allows
you to configure your Spotter remotely.
Spoondrift Spotter.
Core System Features
2-Way Communication Remotely change settings on Spotter
through online Dashboard
Geofence Set watch perimeter and receive alerts
when Spotter moves outside
Spotter API Access Spotter via our API for seamless
application integration
Track Mode Fast positional updates for tracking
Spotter through the Dashboard.

Marine-grade materials.
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The Spotter device is a compact and lightweight instrument
consisting of a waterproof hull, solar panel array, and electronics
package.
The Spotter is completely solar-powered so you don’t have to replace
or recharge the battery during deployment. The solar-battery power
system is designed to support Spotter even through higher latitudes
and limited light conditions.
The Spotter.
Core Spotter Features
Visibility light. Flashes amber for
nighttime visibility.
Removable, transparent lid for
access to product interface.
Captive lid screws (5mm hex) so
they do not get lost when lid is
removed.
Integrated bottom attachment
point for external ballast.
Surface to hold magnet to
activate magnetic mode switch
without removing the lid.

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Spotter User Interface
Charging port for 12V 1A
AC/DC adapter (included).
User LEDs to communicate
system status and indicate
when ready to deploy.
SYSTEM-LED
Communicates the status
of system hardware.
GO LED
Communicates the
operating state of device,
e.g. GPS connectivity, solar
and battery charge.
Micro USB port
for uploading
firmware updates.
ON/OFF
switch.
SD card cover to protect
SD card from unlocking
during use.
Visibility LED.
4mm hex screws to
attach electronics box
to Spotter hull.
Spotter ID number.
Space to add label (e.g.
for contact details).

How to get started with the Spotter platform?
Getting Started.
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1Set up your account and Spotter.
2Set up Spotter device.
3Deploy Spotter in the water.
4Check your Spotter Dashboard.
5Retrieve and Store Spotter.
p. 12
p. 8
p. 7
p. 13
p. 14

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1
Set up your account and Spotter.
Set up user account.
Visit https://spoondriftspotter.co/ to set up your user account.
Enter personal details and click ‘register’. This will take you to the
overview page.
Register your Spotter.
To register your Spotter, click ‘register a new device’.
Enter the Spotter ID number and your Activation code, which you
should have received by email from the Spoondrift team. If you have
not received this, or do not have this available anymore, please
contact Spoondrift at [email protected]o.
The Spotter ID number is also listed on the device and starts with
SPOT-####. Click ‘register’.
You will now see your Spotter listed on the overview page. The map
will be updated as soon as the first data message is received, which
typically takes 1-1.5 hrs from device power on. Please note that
message and data transmission require a clear view of the sky with
minimal obstruction.

The spotter device is completely self-powered and can be operated
right out of the box.
Check the SD card.
Make sure the system is turned o (on/o switch o) and then check
to ensure that the SD card is properly seated.
Turn Spotter on.
Switch the on/o switch to the ‘on’ position to turn Spotter on. During
boot-up the two user LEDs will be orange and after startup switch to
green. The Spotter device has two possible operating modes - RUN
and IDLE-mode - and you can switch between modes using the
provided magnet by holding it at the designated area for 3 seconds.
The Spotter device will always boot into the last mode it was in before
it was switched o.
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2
Set up Spotter device.
IDLE mode RUN mode
In IDLE mode, the two LEDs
alternate flashing green and the
visibility light will be OFF.
In RUN mode, the two LEDs
are solid green and the amber
visibility light flashes periodically.
IDLE mode is to save power and
suspend data acquisition and
transmission. That way you can
switch to RUN mode without
having to open the lid.
Use this mode for short-term
inactivity, in preparation for
deployment (e.g. transport to
deployment site).
RUN mode is for full system
functionality including: data
acquisition, processing, data
transmission and on board
logging to SD card.
Use this mode during
deployment.
Note: Spotter DOES NOT collect
data when in idle mode.

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IMPORTANT:
• Spotter needs to be switched into RUN-mode for deployment.
• If Spotter is in IDLE mode, you can switch to RUN mode by
holding a magnet onto the recessed area directly on top of the
electronics box until the lights turn o. Or in case the transparent
lid is screwed on, by holding the magnet onto the recessed round
area in the lid for 3 seconds.
• The flashing pattern of the 2 user LEDs and the visibility light will
reveal which mode Spotter is in.
When switched to RUN mode, the two user LEDs (SYSTEM and GO)
communicate system status and signal when the Spotter is ready to
deploy.
SYSTEM LED
Communicates the status of system hardware.
GO LED
Communicates the operating state of device, e.g. GPS connectivity,
solar and battery charge.

Explanation user LEDs
IDLE mode
Both solid orange. System is booting up and running
self-check.
SYSTEM GO At startup:
Blinking green. The system is in idle mode. Flashes in
alternating pattern between LEDs for 3 minutes and
then turns o.
Both solid green. System is fully charged.
After startup:
In case DC charger is connected and the spotter is turned o, the
following charging light sequence can be monitored to track the
charging status of the device. Please note that charging the spotter
can take as long as 8 hours.
Blinking green. System is charging. Blinks in sync
with GO-LED.
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RUN mode
Both solid orange. System is booting up and running
self-check.
SYSTEM GO At startup:
Both solid green. All systems are checked and OK.
Ready to deploy. Both LEDs will time out after 60
minutes to save power.
Blinking green GO LED. System is not solar charging.
If this is a night deployment (or the panels are
covered), then this is normal and you can deploy. If
this is a day deployment, something is wrong with
the charging system and you should not deploy.
Solid red SYSTEM LED. Check if SD card is present.
If not, turn o system, place SD card, and switch
back on. If the red light persists, there may be
a serious system error. Do not deploy until this is
resolved. In case that the system LED is solid RED,
and this cannot be resolved by inserting a freshly
formatted and emptied SD card, please contact the
Spoondrift team.
Solid red GO LED. Limited GPS connectivity. System
may be indoors or no clear view of the sky. If
outside, please wait a few minutes while the system
establishes a connection with the GPS satellite. If the
system has a clear view of the sky and the GO LED
remains red for longer than 30 minutes, something
may be wrong. In this case, please contact the
Spoondrift team.
Both solid red. Do not deploy. Follow instructions for
red SYSTEM or GO Led as mentioned above.
After startup:

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Activate Spotter in RUN mode
Switch ON spotter and ensure device is in RUN mode. Ensure both
system and status LEDs are green after ~10 minutes with clear view of
the sky.
Please note that user LEDs timeout after 60 minutes to save power.
After 60 minutes you can see that the system is in RUN mode from the
flashing of the visibility LED.
Carefully secure lid.
Secure the lid using a 5 mm hex key and hand-tighten the 5 captive
screws using a star pattern. The captive screws will bottom out to
avoid overtightening them.
Attach external ballast
Spotter comes with an external ballast chain that should be attached
to the ballast attachment point at the bottom of the hull. For proper
data collection and operation, the ballast chain must always be
attached prior to deployment.
For moored applications: attach mooring to ballast chain.
In case of a moored application, attach the mooring to the end of the
external ballast chain.
Note on mooring design.
Spoondrift Spotter can be deployed either as a free-floating drifter or
in a moored configuration. For free floating deployments, the Spotter
device comes with everything that is required for deployments.
For moored applications, you will need to design a mooring to
anchor the Spotter to the seafloor. Spoondrift provides some general
guidelines based on our experiences. Spoondrift does not sell
moorings, but since we do build moorings for our own Spotters, we
share what we have learned from our own testing and from other
users. Visit www.spoondrift.co to download our mooring guidelines.
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Deploy Spotter in the water.

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Login to your account.
Visit https://spoondriftspotter.co/ to login to your user account. Once
you are logged in you are on the overview page. If your Spotter has
been deployed, it will show as a pulsing dot on the map. In that case,
Spotter is set up properly and you can access your data.
Currently the dashboard allows you to:
• view realtime surface wave data from your Spotter,
• search and download historical data for a custom data range,
• track your Spotter on the map so you can plot and estimate
surface currents or anticipate a retrieval strategy,
• set a geofence so you get notified when the Spotter detaches
from its mooring or otherwise moves outside the set boundaries,
• remotely switch the Spotter into either WAVES or TRACK mode.
See ‘Spotter Measurements’-section in this User Guide to
determine which mode you need for your application.
• access our API so you can integrate ocean data into your own
applications,
• review health status of your Spotter (battery, system status) and
get notified when something is o,
• change your personal profile.
Besides the features as described above, we are constantly
developing new functionality for Spotter, so keep an eye on the
Spotter dashboard for the latest news and updates.
Note: Instructions for the dashboard were included in the email that
you received with your activation code. So please see the Spotter
Dashboard Guide for how to access the features as described above.
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Check your Spotter Dashboard.

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Retrieve the Spotter.
After retrieval, disconnect the mooring or external ballast weight and
rinse o Spotter and mooring/ballast weight with fresh water before
storage. If any fouling has built up on the Spotter, this can generally
be removed with a soft brush and soapy water.
Turn the device o for storage.
After rinsing, dry the area around the lid, and unscrew the lid using a
5mm hex key. Remove the lid carefully to prevent water from dropping
onto the electronics box. After the lid is removed, turn the device o
using the on/o switch. At this point you can also remove the SD
card and download the data stored on the card to your personal
computer.
If you plan to store Spotter for a longer period of time, please see the
‘Notes on lithium battery use and storage’ below. If you plan to deploy
after a prolonged storage, we recommend that you use the included
wall charger to fully charge the Spotter before deployment. This
ensures that the system can startup and operate without delay.
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Retrieve and Store Spotter.

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Notes on lithium-ion battery use and storage.
Spotter units are equipped with a lithium-ion battery pack, which
is located inside the electronics box. It is important to handle the
Spotter device with care to prevent any possible damage to the
electronics and battery pack. For prolonged storage (longer than a
week), the Spotter device should ideally be stored in a cool (< 25C)
and dry area with the battery at a medium charge,
Lithium-Ion battery packs stored at or near full charge for extended
periods of time can experience a reduction in battery capacity.
Therefore, if planning to store for longer than 1 week we advise that
the battery is not fully charged. One way to ensure proper state of
battery charge is to run the system for two days without solar power
(in a box or dark room) before turning it o and putting it in storage.

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Currently Spotter has two dierent run modes enabled: Waves mode
and Track mode. These two run modes can be accessed remotely
through the online Dashboard. Waves mode is the default and will
likely be the mode that is used most of the time. In Track mode, the
system will provide faster position updates (e.g. for retrieval), but no
wave data.
Waves mode
In Waves mode, Spotter collects wave displacement data
continuously at 2.5Hz. Every half hour, the system computes the
complete cross-spectral matrix and estimates bulk statistics and
Spotter geographical location. To save transmission bandwidth, two
time-stamped 30-minute updates of bulk statistics are transmitted
every hour. So although the data resolution is 30 minutes, the Iridium
updates are hourly.
The Standard Waves message payload consists of**:
• Time (epoch),
• Position (latitude and longitude),
• Significant Wave Height - estimated from zeroth-order moment of
wave spectrum (Hm0),
• Peak Period - period associated with the peak of the wave
spectrum (Tp),
• Peak Direction - mean direction at peak of spectrum,
• Peak Directional Spread - directional spreading at peak of
spectrum,
• Mean Period - variance-weighted mean period (Tm01),
• Mean Direction - variance-weighted mean direction,
• Mean Directional spread - variance-weighted mean directional
spread.
** All bulk statistics are computed over frequency range 0.03 – 0.8Hz.
For definitions of various bulk wave statistics see e.g. Holthuijsen (2007).
Spotter Measurements.

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Track mode
Track mode is designed for faster positional updates of the Spotter
device and intended for retrieval of Spotter when in free-drifting
mode (or otherwise for tracking). In Track mode messages are
transmitted every 15 minutes and the payload contains only positional
updates (Spotter does not transmit Wave data when in Track mode).
These positional updates can be visualized on the integrated map
interface on the Dashboard.
The main purpose of this mode is to track a Spotter and get rapid
positional updates for retrieval, which also implies that you will use
about 4x more Iridium credits while Spotter is in Track mode.
Although wave data is not transmitted during Track mode, full data is
stored to the SD card.
Iridium package
The 1-year Iridium package included with Spotter is based on the
standard hourly update rate in Waves mode. Deviations from that can
accelerate the use of the Iridium package included with Spotter. For
instance, the faster update rate in Track mode will deplete your Iridium
budget somewhat faster. In any case, we will alert you when your
Iridium package is running low.

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Product Specification.
Data and Connectivity
Connectivity Iridium SBD (satellite)
Data Storage 1. Full-size 16GB SD card (on-board) -
hires displacement time series, spectra
and statistics, surface currents, and
positions for one year
2. Online Dashboard - unlimited real-
time wave statistics and tracking data
Applications Free-drifting: Spotter measures waves,
position and surface currents, designed to
operate in any current speed.
Moored: Spotter measures waves and
position.
Onboard Data Analysis
Spectral output Function of frequency: variance density
spectrum, directional moments, mean
direction, directional spreading.
Frequency range. 0.033-1 Hz (30s to 1s)
Frequency resolution 0.0098 Hz (default)
Bulk statistics significant wave height, mean period,
peak period, mean direction, mean
directional spread, peak direction, peak
directional spread

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Power, System Upgrade and Monitoring
Primary power source Solar Powered, 5x 2 Watt, 6 Volt solar
panels
Battery Lithium-ion, capacity 11,200 mAh, 3.7 V
(rechargeable)
Firmware Upgrade Standard micro-USB connector (cable
included)
Motion Sensing
Onboard motion sensors GPS and Inertial Measurement Unit
Motion Data Format easting), northing), elevation, latitude,
longitude
Wave frequency range 0.03-1 Hz (30s to 1s)
Wave direction range 0 - 360 degrees (full circle)
System monitoring Internal temperature, humidity, and solar
charging monitored for system health and
included in status update.
Sampling rate 2.5 Hz (Nyquist at 1.25 Hz)
Wave displacement
accuracy
approximately +/- 2 cm , practical
accuracy depends on field of view,
conditions, and GPS system status.
Calibration Not needed, ever.