Nortek's Background
Nortek is a scientific instrumentation company that develops and distributes water velocity measurement instruments. Our products are based on the acoustic Doppler principle and span from single point turbulence sensors to long range current profilers. Our typical customers include marine scientists, research institutions, seismic ship operators and consulting engineers, all with demanding applications requiring state-of-the-art instrumentation that is rugged, reliable and easy to use.
The role of an acoustic Doppler profiler on a moving platform such as a boat, a remotely operated underwater vehicle or aboard a seismic survey vessel is more commonly known as a Doppler Velocity Log (DVL). Nortek‘s contribution to this market has been primarily on the seismic survey vessels that tow streamers for oil exploration. The DVL provides real time data about how the currents may be impacting the position of the streamers behind the ship.
Nortek’s latest effort is the development of a DVL dedicated to ocean gliders. A glider is an autonomous underwater vehicle, which can transit oceans by gliding up and down through the water column – all the while measuring current profiles. Visit the following news release to learn more about gliders.
The collaboration with Puma Ocean Racing is not the first time Nortek has successfully used a DVL on a sailboat. Nortek first attempted this during the sponsorship of Eivind Melleby and Petter Pedersen during their 2008 Star Olympic campaign. The effort provided very useful insight into what would later become a more complete effort with improved location and integration with inertial motion sensors aboard the boat.
Following this, Nortek collaborated with the bank sponsored, TP52, Caixa Galicia. Testing aboard the boat was extremely beneficial in showing possibilities and limitations, however it was cut short due to budget constraints prompted by the banking crisis in late 2008.
The navigator of Caixa Galicia, Robert Hopkins, followed up on this project when he moved on to assist Puma Ocean Racing with the performance elements of their program. Our joint venture with Puma Ocean Racing in 2010 marks the date that boat speed and leeway measurements on sailboats was revolutionized.
