Wireless Sensor Buoys for Perimeter Security of Military Vessels and Seabases

Naval vessels at anchor and seabases are vulnerable to attack by small surface crafts. The past two decades have demonstrated that attacks of this type are indeed possible, and that current security measures may not be sufficient to mitigate such a threat. As technology matures, it should be implemented into providing security for these valuable naval assets. An example of technology to be incorporated is wireless sensor networks. These wireless sensor networks have been utilized in recent conflicts, in the form of unattended ground sensors, with a high degree of success. By incorporating these ground sensors in an open ocean environment, attacks by small surface crafts toward naval vessels and seabases may be precluded. The innovation of attaching wireless sensor nodes to buoys and positioning them around naval vessels to provide the necessary standoff against attack was investigated. Wireless sensor buoys were created using commercial-off-the-shelf products and existing prototype wireless sensor nodes. The tests that were conducted during this thesis determined that the current sensor nodes are suitable, and could be implemented in creating an ad hoc network on an open ocean environment. Future work to include the addition of alternate sensor modalities and longer ranging networks should be investigated.