An interactive system for precise buoy deployment and position assurance

In 1993, for the first time, the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation employed a new system, designed and developed by the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center), to accurately and efficiently install their buoys. The Volpe system integrated differential GPS signals with steering reports from a gyroscope on the buoy tender to rapidly and precisely position each buoy. The captain of the buoy tender directed the entire procedure using a dynamic color display on a laptop computer. This advanced technology eliminated weather as a factor in the buoy deployment process and it also helped establish new standards for buoy position accuracy and process efficiency. In addition to providing a permanent record of the exact location of each buoy, the system also proved useful for periodic checks to guard against buoy position shifts due to winds, currents and waves from passing ships