Discipline: Technology and Engineering
Subcategory: Electrical Engineering
Antonios Doliotis - University of the Virgin Islands
Co-Author(s): Osama Ennasr, Jason Greenberg, and Xiaobo Tan, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Micromodems are electronic acoustic communication devices that modulate incoming signals with data and sends the modulated signal to another device. They are specially designed for underwater communication. Micromodems utilize frequency -shift keying (FSK) and phase-shift keying (PSK) modulation for underwater communications. Micromodems have been used for deep sea expeditions and submarines, and they have been tested to work at depths up to 11,000 feet. Each micromodem will have their own host computer, and the two micromodems need to communicate wirelessly with each other as well as their respective host. One host will emit a ping that will be received by both micromodems. The micromodems will acknowledge that a ping was received and send a messages back to their host. After the ping, the distance between each micromodem will be calculated based on the type of signal used and the medium the micromodems are in (water or air). In addition, the micromodems must be able to send a mini-data packet and a binary message. The micromodems will be tested and programmed on land first, then they will be installed on robotic fish to test their communication speed and efficiency in water. Once the two micromodems can successfully communicate underwater with each other and the host, more micromodems will be used to communicate with each other and the host in a mesh network. Using a large group of micromodems will be useful for effective deep sea communications for underwater rovers and submarines.
Funder Acknowledgement(s): NSF grant ECCS 1446793
Faculty Advisor: Xiaobo Tan, xbtan@egr.msu.edu