LinkQuest TrackLink 5000 Series Manual de usuario

LinkQuest Inc.

TrackLink 5000 USBL Tracking System

User’s Guide

Version 5000.6.2

This document is released to the designated organization under

non-disclosure agreement. Release of the electronic document

or its printout to any other party is prohibited.

Version 5000.6.2

Table of Contents

Table of Contents ............................................................................................................1

1 Introduction.................................................................................................................2

2 Shipping Contents .......................................................................................................3

3 Installation ..................................................................................................................4

3.1 Transceiver and Transponder Installation .............................................................4

3.2 Tracking Software Installation ............................................................................7

4 Software Operating Instructions...................................................................................7

4.1 File .....................................................................................................................8

4.2 Run.....................................................................................................................8

4.3 View....................................................................................................................9

4.4 Configuration.....................................................................................................10

4.5 Input..................................................................................................................10

4.6 Calibration.........................................................................................................11

4.7 Test ...................................................................................................................11

4.8 Transceiver ........................................................................................................13

4.9 Transponder.......................................................................................................14

4.10 Simulation .......................................................................................................15

4.11 Help.................................................................................................................16

4.12 Acoustic Communication .................................................................................16

4.13 Text Display ....................................................................................................17

4.14 Tracking Log ...................................................................................................18

4.15 Data Output Format .........................................................................................18

5 Lab Test, Interfacing and Calibration.........................................................................20

5.1 Lab Test.............................................................................................................20

5.2 Interfacing .........................................................................................................21

5.3 Calibration.........................................................................................................21

5.4 Operation...........................................................................................................24

6 Troubleshooting ........................................................................................................26

7 Customer Support......................................................................................................27

Appendix A: TrackLink 5000 System Specifications ....................................................28

Appendix B: TrackLink 5000 Series Intelligent High Power Transponders ....................29

Appendix C: Transceiver Cable and Connector Specification........................................32

Appendix D: Transponder Cable and Connector Specification ......................................36

Appendix E: Error Messages ........................................................................................39

Appendix F: Transponder Battery Core Replacement....................................................43

Appendix G: Make Your Own ABP16D Battery Pack ..................................................53

Limited Warranty..........................................................................................................55

LINKQUEST END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT FOR FIRMWARE, SOFTWARE

AND DOCUMENTATION...........................................................................................57

The limited warranty is void if the product housing is opened for purpose other

than change of battery pack.

Export of LinkQuest products is subject to U.S. Export Administration

Regulations. Diversion contrary to U.S. law is prohibited. The ECCN of the

TrackLink 5000 systems is 6A001. Export licenses may be required for export

to various countries.

Version 5000.6.2

1 Introduction

Thank you for purchasing LinkQuest’s TrackLink 5000 system, an USBL acoustic

tracking system with integrated high-speed acoustic communication capability. This

user’s guide applies to TrackLink 5000LC, TrackLink 5000MA and TrackLink

5000HA systems. Before operating the system you should read through the entire

user’s guide.

The TrackLink system tracks up to 8 targets up to 4000 meters of range using

TN5010 transponders and up to 5000 meters of range using TN5015 transponders

with ship noise level equivalent to the ambient noise level at (deepwater) Sea State 6.

The main differences among the 5000LC, 5000MA and 5000HA systems are the cost

and positioning accuracy. The specifications of the systems are provided in Appendix

A. The selection of the transponders is in Appendix B. Customized transponders are

also available upon request. Utilizing its benchmark Broadband Acoustic Spread

Spectrum (BASS) technologies, LinkQuest provides the end users with solutions for

underwater tracking and communication at sharply reduced cost and increased

accuracy and robustness.

The position of the submerged targets relative to the ship is determined by a

transceiver system and sent to a PC via a RS232/RS422 connection. The TrackLink

Navigator software integrates the transceiver with the ship's GPS/DGPS and a

compass. The targets’ relative bearings are adjusted to a true bearing using the

information from the compass. The actual position (latitude/longitude) of the target is

then calculated based on the range, true bearing and the surface support ship's

position as supplied by a GPS/DGPS receiver. The results are then graphically

displayed in the software. The positioning and related data may be stored and

retrieved for post processing.

The TrackLink system also has optional two-way acoustic communication capability.

It provides a flexible and reliable way for users to communicate with the target while

tracking it.

Main features of the TrackLink system are as follows:

•Extensive use of modern digital signal processing techniques and state-of-the

art DSP processors sharply reduced cost for end users.

•Broadband Acoustic Spread Spectrum (BASS) technologies.

•Strong rejection to multipaths and ship noise.

•Fully integrated with LinkQuest's most advanced high-speed acoustic modems.

The USBL transponder and acoustic modem share the same electronics and

transducer. It significantly reduces the total system size, weight and power

consumption and eliminates acoustic interference.

•Smaller and lighter transceivers allow easier and less costly installation from a

ship.

Version 5000.6.2

•Advanced power-efficient DSP technology for the USBL intelligent

transponders results in extended field operating duration.

•PC Windows tracking software to display range, bearing, depth, GPS position,

acoustic communication data and other information from other sensors such as

an altimeter. Interfaces directly to the transceiver. No need for a heavy

proprietary deck unit.

2 Shipping Contents

The transit case typically contains one transceiver, one transponder, one 70 feet cable,

one 2-meter transponder cable and a CD for TrackLink Navigator software.

The transceiver is placed in a specially designed transit case. It is highly

recommended to use the transit case during transit. The protective transparent film is

used to further protect the surface of the hydrophone head. This film should not be

removed.

If the user wishes to place the transceiver in his/her own transit case, he/she needs to

place in the similar way. The case needs at least 2 inches of foam on top and bottom

of the transceiver. The user also needs to make a plastic film to protect the

hydrophone head.

The transceiver contains shock sensors. If more than 30g of force are applied on the

transceiver, the transceiver may be damaged.

Warning

: The transceiver is a delicate acoustic instrument. There are multiple

acoustic elements inside. Excessive force will either damage the acoustic

elements or affect the calibration which will result in less accuracy during usage.

The user should exercise caution during usage and transportation. The user

should dismount the transceiver after usage and place the transceiver inside the

transit case during transit. The user should avoid exposing the transceiver to

direct sunshine.

Warning

: The warranty is void if the transceiver is damaged from placement in

an improper transit case.

Warning

: The warranty is void if the shock sensor indicates more than 30g of

force is applied to the transceiver during usage or transit.

Version 5000.6.2

3 Installation

3.1 Transceiver and Transponder Installation

The TrackLink system is designed to track targets acoustically by interrogating the

target and to derive range and bearing information from the returned signal from a

target. The typical usages of the system are to track ROV, AUV, tow fish and diver.

3.1.1 Transceiver Introduction and Installation

The TrackLink transceiver consists of two components, i.e. a hydrophone array and

an acoustic transmitter. The acoustic transmitter is connected to the hydrophone array

through a short cable and is detachable. The user does not need to install the acoustic

transmitter when tracking the target using Electrical Trigger mode, i.e. tracking a

responder.

The user should install the transceiver to a rigid fixture on a ship. Typical installation

is from a steel/iron pole or a gate valve. The user should face the transducer (the

black end of the transceiver) to the seabed and submerge the transceiver in the water.

The user can also tilt the transceiver towards the target for tracking purpose. See the

installation drawing for more details. The user should align the X/Y axis in the

installation drawing with the X/Y axis in the TrackLink Navigator software.

The detachable acoustic transmitter is typically installed at the same level and close to

the hydrophone array. However, it can be also installed certain distance away from

the hydrophone array if necessary.

CAUTION

Transmitting in air at a high power level is prohibited for the

transceiver and transponder. Damage to the transducer may

result from it.

Warning:

The transceiver is a delicate acoustic instrument. Excessive shock and

vibration will either damage the acoustic elements or affect the calibration which

will result in less accuracy during usage. The user should exercise caution during

installation and usage to avoid excessive shock and vibration. The user should

dismount the transceiver after usage and place the transceiver inside the transit

case during transit.

Version 5000.6.2

To achieve optimal performance, the user should install the transceiver 1 meter (3

feet) below the ship’s hull when installed from a pole and flush when installed from a

gate valve.

The accuracy of the absolute position depends on the accuracy of the true bearing,

GPS/GPS and pitch and roll compensation. The user should choose the proper

instruments and operate them correctly. Both sound speed and the bending of acoustic

signal in water will impact position accuracy. A thorough study of the temperature

and salinity in the area of operation will help to improve the accuracy.

Static Heading Offset and pitch/roll offset caused by installation also directly impact

position accuracy. The user is advised to review the section on Calibration to properly

compensate for these offsets.

The TrackLink transceiver is connected to a PC on the ship through a cable. The PC

software communicates with the transceiver using an RS232 serial link. Before using

the transceiver, the user should check the capability and the sufficiency of the power

supply for operation.

Please refer to LinkQuest’s installation drawings for installation. The X, Y directions

are represented by the X, Y of the TrackLink Navigator software.

Warning: The user should minimize the shock to the transceiver system installed

from the ship. The shock limits for the transceiver system is defined in the

Specification A. When the ship is moving at high speeds, the user should remove the

transceiver from the steel pole so that the vibration caused by the ship’s high speeds

will not damage the transceiver.

3.1.2 Transponder Introduction and Installation

The transponder is either powered externally or internally. Before using the

transponder, the user should check to be sure that the power supply has sufficient

reserves to operate the transponder for the desired service time (refer to Appendix B).

The transponder can be configured to the “Transponder”, the “Responder” or the

“Pinger” mode. In the “Transponder” mode, the transponder is in the standby mode

while it is not in active operation. It will revert to “Wake Up” mode when

commanded by the TrackLink Navigator software. The transponder will then stay in

Warning

: Shock sensors is installed inside the transceiver. The warranty is void

if the shock sensor indicates more than 30g of force is applied to the transceiver

during usage or transit.

Version 5000.6.2

the active responding mode one hour from the last time a valid acoustic interrogation

from the transceiver is received.

The transponder can also be configured to the “Responder” mode. In this mode, the

transponder will be triggered by the electrical signal. Details can be found in

Appendix D.

The transponder can be configured to the “Pinger” mode to output acoustic signals

every second. This mode is mainly used for testing purposes.

Important: The transponder with internal batteries (Model C) is typically

shipped with a power-on plug. The transponder is in complete power off state

when the plug is not plugged. Therefore this power-on plug should not be

plugged into the transponder during storage. The power-on plug needs to be

plugged into the transponder during normal operation.

Warning: The user should plug and unplug the power-on plug by holding firmly

on the top (hard) part of the plug as shown in Figure 1. Squeezing or pulling on

the tail of the plug may cause breaking of the wire connections inside the plug.

The damage caused may result in non-functioning of the transponder.

Figure 1

The user should install the transceiver and transponder properly so that the tracked

target will be within the operational beamwidth of the transceiver and the

transponder.

Warning: The limited warranty is void if the housing of the transceiver is

opened. The limited warranty is also void if the transponder housing is opened

for any purpose other than changing of batteries or the electronics of the

transponder is tampered.

The product should only be used under non-corrosive environment. Non-corrosive

environment may include both fresh and salt water. The product housing must be

protected against abrasion that may damage the housing’s protective coatings. This

Version 5000.6.2

product is equipped with corrosion preventive mechanism (i.e. zinc anode). If the

product housing were to be electrically connected to other underwater instruments,

the connection must be made such that the effect of the anti-corrosive mechanism is

not diminished.

3.2 Tracking Software Installation

The TrackLink Navigator software displays the positions of the ship and the targets in

various plots and textual displays.

IMPORTANT: If there is any TrackLink program installed on this computer,

including demo and previous versions, please uninstall it first and delete the

C:\tracklink directory.

IMPORTANT: Please go to “Control Panel” -> “Regional Settings” to make

sure “English (United States)” is selected. It is required for the software to work

properly.

Insert the software CD into CD-ROM drive. Run the setup.exe program to install the

TrackLink Navigation software.

Run the software from Start->Program->tracklink. The user may also create a

shortcut for the program on the desktop.

The user needs to enter the serial number twice the first time running the software.

Please make sure to enter the correct number.

4 Software Operating Instructions

This section describes the functions provided by the menu bar of the TrackLink

Navigation software. The user should first read through this section before proceeding

to the next section on interfacing and calibration.

Warning: The TrackLink Navigator software relies on the serial communication to

interface with the transceiver, GPS, compass, motion sensor/VRU and other devices.

In order to minimize the impact of buffer overflow and delayed responses to serial

communication, the user is advised to exit all nonessential applications running on the

same computer.

Caution

: The user should make sure that the transducer on the transponder will

not take any direct hit, scratch or drag. The user is advised to use a guard to

protect the transducer. A guard can be typically made of thin steel rails. The

diameter of the rail is recommended to be less than 5 mm. The rail should be at

least 1.5 cm away from the transducer.

Version 5000.6.2

IMPORTANT: The user needs to make sure the serial ports work reliably with

the external devices such as GPS, compass and motion sensor. The user is

advised to test the serial ports’ connections to the external devices using

HyperTermial first. In particular when a USB/RS232 converter is used to

provide serial port support, the use needs to test the reliability of this serial port.

There are occasions computer crashes when such a serial port is used to

interface to GPS, compass or motions sensor. When it happens, the user is

advised to use the original serial ports of the computer to connect to the external

devices.

IMPORTANT: If the RS232 communication between the computer and the

transceiver is impacted by electrical noise, the user should improve the

grounding conditions of the computer. The user may connect the metal shields of

the transceiver cable to the ground of the computer. For notebook computers,

the ground is the screw hole for the DB9 connector. The user may further

improve the ground condition by connecting the computer ground to water. On

a metal ship, connecting to the ship deck is equivalent to connecting to water.

4.1 File

Load

This loads the history of ship and target positions. The software uses the history of

positions as the starting points of the plot.

Save As

Saves the current positions, including the loaded history positions, to a file.

Save Bitmap

Saves the entire software display to a bitmap file.

Prints the whole software display.

Exit

Exits the TrackLink Navigator software.

4.2 Run

Reset

Resets the transceiver.

Version 5000.6.2

Start

Starts both target(s) and ship tracking.

Clear

Clears all the positions in the plots. The historical positions will not be cleared.

They can be saved to a user-selected file after the tracking is stopped.

Stop

Stops both target and ship tracking.

Wake Up

Wakes up a transponder with the selected address. It lasts for about 20 seconds for a

selected target. This command can also wake up all targets at once by selecting

“All” in the address pull down menu. There is no need to run this command if the

transponder is configured to the “Responder” mode.

Warning: The user should avoid running the wake up command continuously

for more than 2 minutes.

4.3 View

Choose the “Bow Reference” view or the “North Reference” view. In the “Bow

Reference” view, the plot will show the target’s relative positions to the ship

(transceiver). The heading of the ship is displayed at the up right hand corner of the

plot when a compass interface is available.

In “North Reference” view, the plot will show the target’s absolute positions in

longitude and latitude. The ship’s bow rotates with reference to the direction

“North”.

The most recent 300 positions are used for the trajectory of the targets.

“Scale Down” scales down the main tracking plotting. This command is enabled

only when the tracking is active.

“Scale Up” changes the TrackLink Navigator window to full screen. This command

is only available when the screen is in “Scale Down” status. Please note the

Maximum button on the up right corner of the window does not work at this time.

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