Setting up a groundstation automatic routines for

Setting up a groundstation : automatic routines for web interface and data dissemination 2 nd EGO Workshop Glider school Mallorca, Oct 2007 Laurent Mortier

Cooperative steering of a fleet of gliders through a non centralized network Iridium Freewave antennas Ground Station 2 Web server for steering Ground station 1 Constraints to take into account : Objectives : - automated generation of steering commands, - plotting data in NRT and - web publishing for a fleet of gliders - for the three types of gliders available today : slocum, spray and seaglider - Different manufacturer interfaces - Glider groundstation not always accessible - Asynchronicity, quality and low rate of comms - Iridium AND freewave (slocum only) + Argos - Distributed steering among partners - Heterogeneous networks of computers - Maintenance, failure and transit from the gliderports

North Western Mediterranean Sea Observatiory in winter-spring 2007 7 gliders 6 gliders simultaneously From December 2006 to June 2007 XBTs, CTDs, floats ~3200 profiles gliders (200 m and 1000 m depth) Large, meso, and small scale processes Spray 016 Winter mixing, subduction Northern current No deep convection this winter!!!

Present groundstation for a single glider Data Center Operational model (Coriolis, GTS, …) (MERCATOR, MFS, …) Groundstation (dockserver, Kermit, mail, …) • Steering : partially automated (equivalent to what the WRC dockserver is doing)+alarms • Ploting NRT data : completely automated but fixed format for plots • Forecasting of the trajectories : completely automated with the daily updated waypoint • Saving to Coriolis DC : automated

Present groundstation at LOCEAN for steering and data flow observed SST dia 01@locean Slocum 1 Spray 1 (e. g. MEDSPIRATION) Server G 1 Iridium server Modem-modem - slocum : terminal using Kermit - spray : mail /mnt, mail thot@locean or brodie@idris. fr wget Forecast of the trajectories of gliders 1, 2, 3. . . (operational forecast MERCATOR, MFS, …) mail scp thot@locean-ipsl. upmc. fr ftp 500 Go External disk rsync • Storage of the NRT data from the gliders • Data processing forecasts, geophysical data, engineering data, … 2 internal disks RAID x. x http labo/home/cybercafe/3 G ftp Coriolis

Requirements of the present system at LOCEAN • Network and machine requirements • Groundstation : PC with secured storage (redundancy) and/or access to archiving facilities • SLOCUM : US Robotics modem provided by WRC • Optional : a PC for modem connection to the modem (see below) • Commands, daemons, software's on the groundstation machine • LINUX distribution (bash) • cron, ssh, ftp with associated deamons, rsync • C-Kermit • procmail (needs access to /var/spool/mail. if not , fetchmail is needed) • matlab (licenced and available !! Better to have a private licence). Useful for plotting put also for plenty of other tasks including scientific analysis… OR octave (http: //octave. sourceforge. net/, not tested) or python (Lucas Merckelback) • acces to mail and web (wget) facilities • screen (http: //www. gnu. org/software/screen) very useful terminal multiplexer • optional : mail and web servers installed on the groundstation machine • If modem reception on a separate machine (luxurious but secure solution) • air-conditioning, UPS (uninterruptible power supply) • LINUX distribution with almost nothing but absolute need to read mail, ssh and ftp ! • provide additional backup for the NRT data

Why Kermit and not WRC dockserver for the SLOCUM ? • Kermit used to • open a terminal on the glider (interactive or batch mode) • send and receive files from the glider • useful to install locks and send signals • Interactive Kermit • does what the GMC terminal is doing • presently with less ergonomy : output / input are in the same terminal … • Kerbang mode • does what the GMC terminal is doing (script mode) • sends signals to groundstation (plotting, …) and alarms to glidermen and women ! • Main interest of this solution è User fitted è Easy to customize è We developed it because WRC dockserver versions (~ 2 years ago) not stable at that time

Running a mission today thot@locean-ipsl. upmc. fr dia 01@locean-ipsl. upmc. fr Interactive (kermit or dockserver) : Run test missions, then main mission Operators at sea Start kerbang robot, Controls and alarms, open logs Shift people kerbang loop Send email to staff Wait for RING (iridium) Receive 3 SBD files If *. ma available, fetch and reread mission Send alarm to shift people (sms) If ABORT callback in a moment Send signal to groundstation for plots, ftp Resume the mission

Running missions for several gliders in a next future (this winter hopefully) groundstation@so mewhere: one part lab but remote access possible Master control & archiving mi/ma files dia 01@somewhere dia 02@somewhere else dia 03@somewhere else Operators at sea Mysql EGO database webserver@somewhere with mirroring sites Website : shift people steer the gliders according to their access rights set by the glider's owners from any places with internet access (lab, home, cybercafe, …) NO direct connection to the groundstation machines

The web interface for steering a fleet of glider http: //www. locean-ipsl. upmc. fr/gliders Why email between the web server and the glider groundstation ? • the only simple way to go through firewalls easily (but beware of anti spammer!!) • secure enough (control using keys or any kind of password) • problem : how to get an acknowledgment of receipt from the groundstation ?

Man pages, manuals, installation package, … • Available today kerstart(1) • general description (in french) of the installation on the PCs kstart(1) NAME • "gliderman" kermit short manual • man pages for "ker" scripts USER COMMANDS ksertart - start or restart the glider robot SYNOPSIS ksertart [-cf. Fh] [-D dir] [-S nom] [-I nom] [-T sec] DESCRIPTION kerstart search . . . OPTIONS -c check for children of the script to start or restart. If any, kstart will wait for KERALIVE seconds (see the -T option) before proceeding. The default is to consider all processes with no check of their dependance -f • Tomorrow force killing only the kerbang processes (see the -S option) . . . • « installation package » for the groundstation machines (LINUX) • Web steering interface available (included in the EGO website or independent) • Simple User guides or README files • Very similar to the GLMPC terminal from WRC but suitable for Spray and Seaglider too. No direct connection required to the groundstation • Future plans • Integration of other EGO tools : igloo (NOCS), automatic generation of waypoints (IMEDEA), … • Interaction with the dockserver ? ? • More general interface for an heterogeneous fleet of AUVs (IFREMER)