Since 2018, the OPLC team has been exploring a number of methodological and instrumental avenues in an attempt to measure oceanic vertical velocities, which are extremely weak signals (~qqs mm/s). One of the instruments currently being developed by the team is a 'free fall' profiler whose descent and ascent speed anomalies are measured using a very precise pressure sensor. A new concept of simple, robust and economical underwater release system has emerged from this development. Based on the controlled release over time of an insert caught in a frozen fluid, it was tested for the first time in spring 2019 in the harbour of Marseille on the Antedon during the VVPTEST campaign, then during the FUMSECK (mission leader S. Barrillon).
The concept was the subject of a declaration of invention to SATT Sud-Est in June 2019 by Jean-Luc Fuda, CNRS MIO-OPLC Research Engineer. To date, the company has invested in the initial stages of industrial development, including a preliminary design study by a specialist agency and the drafting of a patent, which has recently been filed with the INPI. Guillaume Gouvernet, in charge of technology transfer at the SATT, and Jean-Luc Fuda are now actively looking for an industrial partner interested in manufacturing and marketing this "ice release".
We would like to thank the SAM, whose facilities (workshop, tank, lifting equipment, freezer) were invaluable for the production and testing of the very first protypes, as well as Marc Garel for making his thermostatic bath available. Many thanks also to Lilas Ruttyn for spending many days at the SAM, during her optional bachelor's degree course, patiently timing the release times to complete the preliminary measurements carried out at FUMSECK.
To be continued...
Contact : Jean-Luc Fuda