Laboratory
Aerial View of the LOSOS Building and adjacent outdoor storage facility at WHOI's Quissett Campus. Photo Credit: Tim Kane
Features
- Slab Testing Room
- In house Calibration and Repair
LOSOS Building (Interior)
- Mechanical Lab - 1344 sqft
- 10' Bay Door (forklift accessible)
- Overhead Monorail Hoist (2000 lb capacity)
- Dedicated Fabrication Area - furnished with some tools for prototyping and fabricating parts and equipment.
- 1 PC able to communicate with instruments.
- Sealing Station
- Bench with rotating cup to hold a glass ball in place where the majority of glass is sealed as well as inspected. Has a CableEye tester allowing for a quick test of cabling.
- Portable sealing tables available.
- Electronics Lab - 1230 sqft
- Overhead Monorail Hoist (500 lb capacity)
- Backup Power Supply - Our instruments, PCs, and other critical infrastructure run on a building wide Uninterruptible Power Source (UPS). In the event of an extended power failure a diesel generator automatically comes online and will maintain power indefinitely. A large mechanical flywheel ensures a seamless transition from line power to generator power so the equipment sees no power glitches.
- Power Walls - dedicated power supply, Ethernet and serial connections to each OBS to allow continuous programming and monitoring of data loggers. Clocks running and monitored continuously.
- Over 100 network drops, each wired to the building's main network switch closet. Some of these provide Internet access while some distribute our private instrument network throughout the lab and out to the lab vans when they are present.
- Specialized Equipment
- CableEye Cable Tester
- We test all of our cables before each experiment. In a matter of seconds this performs a resistance check to identify failing connections, a low voltage isolation test to identify sever water leakage and other unintended shorts, and a high voltage insulation test to identify failures of insulation and more minor water leaks. Completing this same suite of tests by hand with a multimeter and megometer might take a skilled technician 10 or 20 minutes for a complicated cable.
- Electronic log is created and stored for each test.
- Battery Tester - proprietary??
- Expedites battery testing while providing another layer of safety and eliminates the possiblity of human error.
- Testing time cut by 1/4
- Electronic log is created and stored for each test.
- CableEye Cable Tester
- Secure, private computer network with communication to all OBS both inside the laboratory and the outside laboratory vans
- 3 dedicated PCs for communicating with instruments
- Use Filemaker to manage a database of mechanical and electrical components. With the hundreds of drawers and other storage locations in the lab we easily keep track of where things are, as well as the manufacturers, suppliers, and other relevant information.
- Separate computer running Antelope software which is a real-time seismic monitoring system that allows visibility on sensors being tested in the Slab Test Room. Used for data storage and analysis as well.
- 2 laptops available for mobile operations if necessary.
- Sensor Lab - 503 sqft
- Positively pressurized clean space for repair and calibration of sensors
- Laminar Flow Hood - directional air flow in confined clean space for sensor repair
- Controlled Environmental Chamber - -10 to 40C
- DPG Calibration System (picture of it in the Cold Room)
- 1 PC able to communicate with instruments
- Slab Test Room - 150 sqft
- 4'x8' granite floor slab isolated from building foundation for testing and calibrating instruments without exposure to the vibrations the building produces.
- 8 broadband sensors can be tested simultaneously
- BirdDog System for testing Geophones
- 1 PC able to communicate with sensors being tested
- Office Space - 485 sqft
- 5 separate offices for facility staff
- Each office equipped with PC capable of accessing instruments throughout the lab and in the lab vans.
- Walk-in space with ample testing area
- Temperature control down to 4C
 Temperature control for Cold Room. |
 Ample space in the walk in Cold Room. |
 Conducting testing at a variety of temperatures. |
- Shared space available for prep, staging, storage and/or repairs.
- Floor space: 47' x 75' with height of 20' from bottom of overhead bridge crane hook.
- 10 ton overhead bridge crane (working area 40'x 75')
 Ample work space with large bay door. |
 View from parking lot, easily accessible to large vehicles. |
 Large overhead crane with 10 ton capacity. |
 Vertical storage as well which is easily accessed from the Main Laboratory. |
- 5,600 lb max load forklift dedicated to LOSOS staff use
- Stake Body Truck for transport
LOSOS Building (Exterior)
- WHOI OBSIP maintains a cased borehole outside the OBS Laboratory for testing seismic and geodetic instrumentation for installation in ODP (Ocean Drilling Project ) boreholes.
- The hole is 20’ deep and has an inner diameter of 10”. Instrumentation can be powered, controlled, and monitored from the OBS Lab. The borehole was drilled using funding from the W.M. Keck Foundation.
 Construction of the bore hole. |
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- 2 seagoing laboratory vans
- 1 seagoing computer in each van
- Fully powered and equipped with Ethernet and serial ports capable of communicating with computers inside OBS Lab
- Each lab van has 32 network ports for instruments, along with additional ports PCs and other support gear.
 Seagoing Lab Vans are easily accessible from the Main Laboratory at LOSOS. |
- Compliant with Fire Safety Standards
- Alarmed
- Climate Controlled
- Fully Powered
Space can be used for secure storage area as well.
