Supercon 2024: Exploring the Ocean with Open Source Hardware
1 min read
Summary
Wayne Pavlako has created a series of low-cost ocean-going buoys that combine a range of sensors with an Arduino microcontroller and Iridium Short-Burst Data (SBD) modem in a simple watertight container, enabling the buoy to send useful data while at sea for two years or more.
Based on information he published, Pavlako was contacted by a Dutch non-profit interested in using the buoys to study the movement of floating plastic waste in the Pacific, but he’d only built four buoys at that point.
This led to him streamlining the production process to make repetitive tasks more efficient and reliable, allowing him to build and sell buoys in larger numbers.
Despite the advances in technology making exploration cheaper, it is important to consider the lack of regulation in international waters and the potential for polluters to take advantage of this.
Nevertheless, Pavlako’s work could enable important data to be collected to aid research and potentially protect the seas more effectively.
