Getting Power and the Internet to the Seafloor V15

The remotely operated vehicle (ROV) ROPOS begins its first science dive at Axial Seamount of VISIONS'14. An empty junction box is attached beneath the ROV's 'belly'. Photo Credit: Mitch Elend, University of Washington, V14.

ROPOS about to plug junction box LJ03A into low-voltage node LV03A at the Axial Base site.

Photo Credit: NSF-OOI/UW/CSSF; Dive 1736; V14.

Secondary nodes, also called junction boxes were installed during the VISIONS'14 expedition. They serve as electrical and communications outlets to 23 kilometers of extension cables and ~150 instruments that will be installed at depths of nearly 9000 feet beneath the ocean's surface and in some of the most extreme environments on Earth - hydrothermal vents.

The 'J-Boxes' come in three "flavors"  - Medium Power and Low Power Junction Boxes, and Low Voltage Nodes and they are configured specific to the instruments and infrastructure (e.g. mooorings) that will be attached to them by extension cables. They host up to 8 ports and each J-Box has 375 volts and 1 Gb/s transmission capabilities. The nodes and junction boxes were designed and built at the University of Washington Applied Physics Lab.

In addition, to these nodes and junction boxes, a Benthic Experiment Platform (BEP), developed by Oregon State University as part of the Endurance Array, will also be deployed at the Endurance Offshore 600-m site. The BEP houses a Low Power Communications housing, designed by UW APL, and numerous sensors inside a hazard-resistant frame.