A DATA PROCESSING AND DISPLAY INSTRUMENT 
FOR OCEANOGRAPHIC RESEARCH 
by JOSEPH T. LAING, Section Manager, Ocean Survey Systems 
Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Ordnance Department 
Baltimore, Maryland 
ABSTRACT 
A data processing and display instrument 
consisting of a high-speed digital computer and 
precision X-Y plotter is described. Originally 
developed by Westinghouse for navigational 
purposes, the instrument is suitable for similar 
use in oceanographic survey work as well as real- 
time processing and plotting of such oceano- 
graphic research data as temperature, depth, 
sound velocity, water currents, and similar pa- 
rameters. By means of a universal input-output 
system and the capacity for general purpose 
programming, the instrument can be easily adapted 
to a wide range of oceanographic problems at sea 
and in the laboratory, Pictures are shown 
depicting the type of equipment currently 
available, and modifications for several specific 
applications are discussed, 
INTRODUCTION 
The expanding effort on the national scene of 
oceanographic research and world-wide surveys is 
presenting the scientific community with greater 
challenges than ever before in the collection and 
analysis of oceanic data, No less challenge is 
presented to industry in supporting the scien- 
tific community through mechanization of instru- 
mentation systems which are truly responsive to 
the oceanographic problems at hand. There is 
perhaps no greater challenge in this area than 
the processing and reduction of the vast quanti- 
ties of data emanating from oceanographic 
research and survey programs, In this paper I 
will describe one general-purpose instrument 
designed for shipboard processing and recording 
of certain types of data, and I will attempt to 
show its application to a wide range of oceano- 
graphic data processing problems, 
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF OPERATION 
The instrument is essentially a digital 
computer and X-Y plotter integrated into one 
package. It was originally designed and built 
for the U.S.Navy Bureau of Ships as part of a 
military defense system. The nature of its 
mission here required that it be versatile in 
its adaptability to various modesof operation 
related to the original problem, The same 
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versatility also permits the solution of problems 
of a somewhat different nature. 
In its principal mode of operation the 
instrument accepts analog data in the form of 
ranges or bearings from navigational control 
stations, computes the precise geographical 
position of the ship, and plots this position on 
a nautical chart. In addition, the position 
data are transmitted digitally to other output 
devices. Fig. l is a block diagram of the 
instrument. In the main computer-plotter console, 
a bank of analog-to-digital converters converts 
the voltages from various sensors into binary 
form for entry into the computer. Sensor voltages 
are, in the case shown, cabled to the console from 
the navigational control system (such as Shoran, 
Loran C, or OMEGA) and entered into the computer 
by this route. The computer, having been 
previously instructed by insertion of an appropri- 
ate program, performs the computations necessary 
to determine the geographic position of the ship. 
Upon command from the computer, this position is 
plotted on the chart and simultaneously trans- 
mitted to remote output devices which include a 
Friden Flexowriter and remote digital displays. 
Note that in the case of the plotter the position 
data must be converted to analog voltages for 
driving the plotter servo system. Full digital 
accuracy is, of course, preserved in the data 
printed out on the Flexowriter and displayed 
elsewhere. 
The steering aid shown is actually a by- 
product of the position computation, in that it 
permits the comparison of the computed position 
with a desired position based on some preselected 
course of the ship. An appropriate error signal, 
proportional to distance off course or preferably 
distance plus angle, may be displayed at the helm 
as an aid in following survey lines. 
Other sensor data may be brought in as desired, 
The plotting of some position other than ship 
position, as, for example, that of a remote 
sensor in communication with the ship, may require 
a correction for ship's heading. In another case, 
on-station plots of temperature versus depth for 
synoptic surveys may be desired and may be 
cabled in along with other parametric data, 
yet another case, ship's course and speed may 
be brought in to operate the instrument as a 
dead-reckoning tracer. 
In 
