This repository details ongoing research and development work by Arribada to develop an active vacuum (suction) cup tag, primarily to provide a non-invasive means of attaching scientific instruments to oceanic manta rays i.e accelerometers, video cameras or other instruments to advance scientific research conducted by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in partnership with Georgia Aquarium.
The oceanic manta ray active vacuum tag was developed to provide a non-invasive means of attaching bio-logging instruments to oceanic manta rays by means of utilising a vacuum cup and active suction to attach bio-logging payloads to the manta's skin. It is primarily intended for attachment in-water by scuba divers, although a pole-based attachment mechanism is under development. Typical use cases involve attaching GPS/GNSS positioning instruments, accelerometers and other bio-logging apparatus.
The tag has been designed to fit Arribada's open source Horizon ARTIC R2 Argos satellite / GNSS transmitter to provide satellite positioning for recovery when on the surface. Other payloads, such as accelerometers, of optional VHF pingers can be fitted to either side of the tag's cylindrical mounting holes.
The design files in this repository contain all of the components and necessary to build the physical tag. You are free to select your own electronics / payloads, or to use the Horizon transmitter which fits the tag natively.
To get started with the design, head to the hardware directory. Here you will find the assembly instructions and design files for the tag.
- Documentation clean up for public release
- Initial release and publish to OSHWA
All hardware designs, files, assets and schematics in this repository are licenced under CERN OHL v1.2. Documentation is licenced under GPLv3. The design files are certified open source hardware by the Open Source Hardware Association, certification UID UK000063.
