Development of FRP Ship-Shaped Buoy

An FRP ship-shaped buoy has been developed t o use as a longte rm automat ic observation s tat ion for mar i t ime weather and hydrographic condi t ion a t fixed points in the ocean. T h e buoy was designed w i t h reference t o the V . E . N O M A D buoy devseloped i n the Uni ted States. However, t he material o f t he hul l was <:hanged f r o m a luminum t o FRP considering FRP's excellent corrosion resistance and formabi l i ty o f curved surfaces. Furthermore, solar cells were adopted as a power source for t h e buoy system together w i t h batteries. Af ter t he complet ion o f t he buoy system, a f ield exper iment was conducted i n the winter season for about three mon ths and the valuable data o f waves, buoy's motions, solar cells, etc. could be obtained. Th is paper gives a summary o f t he results o f t he analyses on waves, buoy's motions, solar cells, etc.