A patent for the MIO !

Since 2018, the OPLC team has been exploring a number of methodological and instrumental avenues in an attempt to measure ocean vertical velocities, which are extremely weak signals (~qqs mm/s). One of the instruments under development within the team is a "free fall" profiler whose descent or ascent speed anomalies are measured using a very accurate pressure sensor. A new concept of a simple, robust and economical underwater release was born during 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 Marseille harbour on the Antedon during the VVPTEST cruise, then during the FUMSECK cruise (mission leader S. Barrillon).

In June 2019, Jean-Luc Fuda, Research Engineer CNRS MIO-OPLC, declared the concept to the SATT Sud-Est. To date, SATT Sud-Est has invested in the first steps of an industrial valorization, including the preliminary design study by a specialized agency as well as the drafting of a patent that has recently been filed at the INPI. Guillaume Gouvernet, in charge of technology transfer at SATT, and Jean-Luc Fuda are now actively looking for an industrial partner interested in the manufacture and marketing of this "ice-drop".

Thanks are due here to the SAM whose facilities (workshops, basin, lifting means, freezer) have been a precious help for the manufacturing and testing of the very first protypes, as well as to Marc Garel for the provision of his thermostatically controlled bath. A big thank you also to Lilas Ruttyn for spending many days at the SAM, during her optional licence training course, patiently timing the release times to complete the measurements made preliminary at FUMSECK.

Contact: Jean-Luc Fuda