Design of an Autonomous Monitoring System for Oceans

The study describes the design, prototyping and prospective planning of an autonomous ocean monitoring system. This concept aims to harness the potential of some of the enablers from Industry 4.0 to address a complete process, ranging from a fleet of low-cost sensorized physical instruments to the communication and processing of the data obtained. The product design part assumes great relevance within the project, since it provides the system with many of the differentiating characteristics: the low cost owing to additive manufacturing techniques, the autonomous operation supported by wave energy, as well as scalability. By means of a modular structure, a set of sensors installed inside a capsule moving vertically from the surface to a specific depth are responsible for capturing data from various physicochemical variables that help to establish profiles of the surface layers of the sea, providing key information in ocean observation. This information is shared among a matrix of profilers offshore and communicating with a center onshore, where it is processed and spread to interested agents.