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 MVP SOP
RV Celtic Explorer Cruise CE17-01
 Chief Scientist: Kevin Sheehan, MI
July 22nd to August 6th 2017		 John E. Hughes Clarke
Anand Hiroji
Jose Cordero Ros
Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping
University of New Hampshire

Overview:

The MVP 200 was serviced and tested by the AML Engineer before the start of the cruise. The standard operating procedures for MVP using the controller software installed on the computer in Instrument rack no 1 are described below. The procedure assumes that all the interfaces between winch, controller box and computer are done. The settings shown below are the one used during the CE1701 cruise.

1) MVP System Configuration
Figure1
Screen shot  1

If no IP addresses, physical serial cables are changed, all the settings shown in  screen shot 1  should be used.

NAV Interface: The MVP system is getting vessel position, vessel speed, and time from serial port 4. The bottom depth is distributed by EM2040 computer using UDP. The IP address of Remote should match the SIS computer IP address, and the port number should match as set up in the MDM Data distribution manager on sis computer. All this information is used to make real-time decisions (deployment ,braking, recover) by MVP. Hence if any of this information is mission it will complain. User can set the timeout values that MVP should wait for before it raises an alarm.

Multibeam Interface: The MVP can send the cast directly to SIS once the fish is docked. This configuration is used to set up auto-send. For the AML Smart SVP sensor (used during CE1701 cruise) which measures only sound speed, the s10 file format has to be selected in order to send the casts to the SIS computer.  If the other CTD sensor is used in the future this file format should be changed to s52.

Data Logging: Here you can select the root file name and the location where the data should be logged. The folder should be first created manually. MVP controller does not create it automatically. You will only find that out when you try to deploy. Checking the auto box will name the files automatically with the date/time stamp.

Display Setting: This is used to setup the plotting parameters in MVP. This does not affect the collected data. the Remote monitor/Output box can be checked to remotely view the MVP controller software on another computer. This functionality was not used during the CE701 cruise as it was possible to use the existing screen sharing system and view the MVP screen near the EM data collection monitors. If in future this feature is required, the IP address and port numbers should be entered in the respective boxes and the Remote Monitor/Output box checked off.

Winch Interface: The model selected should be always MVP200 on the MVP computer. If this is your remote computer to monitor MVP then select remote monitor. The pump on between the casts should be always checked on.

Fish Interface: The only thing to change here is the Probe type in the event that the CTD sensor is put back on to the fish in the future.

Deployment Configuration: the options are self explanatory. Depending on any specific operating situations these should be changed accordingly.

2) Deployment Procedure


Ask the bridge for clearance every time before deploying the MVP. The bridge will consider navigational hazards and any men working near MVP winch.
Discuss with the Master concerning the case when MVP alarm sounds to see if they are prepared/able to slowdown or stop the ship completely before all the cable goes out from the drum.

Lower the fish into the water at about 4 knots speed.

Once the winch controller is turned from hand to auto, the controller window will appear as below.


Screen shot  2

Press reset to gain access to all buttons in Deployment Control (screen shot 3)

Step 1: Check all status windows



Screen shot  3




Winch Status: In normal operations, only 3 lights should be lit. The pump B will show increasing numbers when the winch starts to winch in the cable.

Deployment Control: All the buttons in deployment control should be active. Currently it is set to deploy as required by pressing start button. The auto deployment is disabled. In order to take continuous automatic MVP casts click disable and enter any required intermediate delay in between the cast in the box next to the disable button. An example of continuous deployment is shown at the end of the SOP.

Deployment Configuration: Depth off bottom is set to be 10 meters. Its important to have the check box checked. This means that fish will stop 10m before the supplied depth from EM2040. If you max depth is set 100 and the bottom depth is 90m the fish will stop at 80m. If you uncheck the box, the fish will go past beyond 90m and may hit the ground. Enter the minimum and max speed of the vessel expected during the MVP deployment. The minimum speed is avoid the vessel drifting back over the cable. In the event of a manual profile, it may be necessary to set the minimum to zero as the vessel will likely be on DP.
 The controller software computes the max cable available considering the maximum expected speed. If higher speed is expected less cable is available.

Deployment Data: This is a real-time update of fish, winch and navigation. During deployment the operator should continuously monitor these values. The observed normal cable speed when fish is being deployed was up to 8.2m/s and it was up to 1.1m/s while recovering the fish. The tension and pressure sensor is currently out of order and needs servicing by the AML engineer.



Step 2 Deployment: Press start to initiate deployment a confirmation window will appear ( screen shot 4).

Screen shot  4


Click Yes to initiate the cast.



Step 3:Cast under way

Screen shot  5




Once the cast is initiated the winch status message will go from Auto Idle to Brakes on and then Brakes off then the cable will start going out of the drum which should be reflected in the Deployment data window (Screen shot 5). You should see the cable out increasing and also the fish depth increasing.  The plot will show the current depth of the fish. To change the scale on the plot right click on the plot and adjust the values.


Step 4: Auto recovery


Screen shot  6


Once the fish depth reaches Minimum of 1) Bottom depth - depth off bottom or 2) Max depth, (or exceeding maximum cable out) the winch will put the brakes on and waits for 2 seconds before it starts recovery. The relevant messages will be updated in MVP system message. While recovery is under way the cable out number should reduce as per the cable speed.

There might be few scenarios where the auto recovery is aborted. Following are screen shots displaying the messages when the auto recovery was aborted.

Screen shot  7

In case the auto recovery is aborted. The cable out will stay a constant value and will not reduce. In this case press Reset button on the Deployment control after that the recovery button will be active. Then press recovery. A window will pop up ( screen shot 8) asking to confirm the auto recovery. Press yes to start the recovery. After this, the winch will start pulling in the cable and that should reflect on the Deployment data winch display.  Note, the state of the messenger should be manually monitored as the system is unable to confirm the state at which the abort happens. Ideally have aperson looking out the window to see the messenger arrive.

Screen shot  8





Step 5: Fish Docking/ Auto recovery complete.

There are two messengers put on the MVP cable. The first (closest to winch) is actually the one that should trigger the winch to stop. The second messenger is a backup and also allows the operator to visually assess the location of the first messenger, as the second messenger should always be visible just about 1m out from the block.

These messengers will trigger the completion of auto recovery. The messengers are put in a place so that there is enough cable out to keep the fish about 4.5m deep at the speed of 8 knots. This was done at the beginning of the survey cruise at the end of transit.

There are two scenarios that can happen :

Scenario 1/ Ideal case / Happened 90% of time on CE1701

In this Scenario the winch detects the messenger and completes the auto recovery (Screen shot 9). The cable out count in this case will be up to -1.5m .


Screen shot  9


Once the recovery is complete the deployment control will have all buttons active and the MVP is ready for the next cast.


Scenario 2/ Messenger not detected

If the winch fails to detect the messenger then the cable count will go beyond -1.5m. Then the operator can force stop by clicking on stop button (screen shot 10 ).
 

Screen shot  10

 
Note the cable out is -2.3m, even if the MVP system message says the auto recovery stopped before Dock messenger was detected, actually it has failed to detect one. The operator has overridden the automatic detection by pressing STOP. As long as the second messenger is still visible outboard of the block, the system should be ready to next deployment. In the event that the reset button does not cancel an "Emergency Stop" message, this indicates that the first messenger is holding open the second switch. In this case, the deck crew have to manually override the winch and move the first messenger out to between the block and the inboard switch.  If this keeps happening, physically inspect the dock messenger on the cable and repair accordingly.

If the operator does not stop the recovery, as the dock messenger passes through the tripping mechanism the winch will put on an emergency break. In the Winch status the ESTOP light will go red, indicating that Winch has put on emergency break. The red light in the controller box (at the bottom of the instrument rack 1) will also go red. If this situation happens the cable has to be winched out using manual mode on the winch (by deck crew). The cable should be winched out just enough so that the outboard of the two Dock messengers is visible just after the boom. Then press reset button in the Deployment Control panel and all buttons should be active. The MVP will be ready for next deployment.

Continuous Profiling : The MVP can be set up to take continuous casts with a fixed delay in between the casts. Screen shot 11 shows the configuration for continuous casts with zero delay in between. 

Screen shot  11


MVP Alarm panel

The MVP controller has an alarm panel (Screen shot 12) that should be used during entire operation.

Screen shot  12

  The alarm panel has many events that can trigger an alarm. User can disable any unwanted events by double clicking on them. 
page composed offshore --  ADH