The RAMONES team had a great opportunity to work together in Lisbon to evaluate the glider’s hardware and software. The RAMONES partners from IST (Portugal), NTUA (Greece), Evologics (Germany) and PLOATECH (Spain) were involved in the work and experiments performed in IST-ID facilities in Lisbon (Doca dos Olivais) and later at the Castelo de Bode dam for a full week in September (14-22/09/23) to perform various tasks of the project. The team integrated the USBL-Modems to the IST glider submarine vehicle, installed the control computer and debugged the software for optimal operation in the field. For the first time water trials of the glider were conducted with the Evologic’s system installed on the autonomous glider as well as the gamma radioactivity sensor. The glider performed typical yo-yo maneuvers, collecting data at a depth of 20m. Despite the complexity and the challenges of the technical endeavor, the team has efficiently confronted all issues providing solutions and ensuring the success of the field trials. Overall, it was a productive and hard-working meeting were there was a chance to finalize strategies and workload on underwater communications that are needed for our project.

This was an essential first step before RAMONES’ final mission, in 2024, in the caldera of the Kolumbo submarine volcano (Greece), at a depth of 500m, where two gliders will map the area’s radioactivity in cooperation with a surface vehicle and a fixed benthic station.