Project Description
This project aims to provide a solution to high frequency measurement of local currents in ocean environments, by adopting LoRa (‘Long Range’) IOT technology as a means of transmitting real time, fine scale updates of GPS position. To achieve this, current drifter concepts are being adapted to accommodate drogues – needed to measure current at the target depth – and fitted with ESP32 microcontrollers to support a range of sensors (including GPS and IMU). By deploying multiple drifters at one time, and using an innovative mesh network, the area being studied is expanded – by allowing individual units to ‘talk’ to each other, transferring positional data between each other to a master unit. Trials are being conducted in the Swan River, with further testing by the student team in early 2022 at an offshore location.
Prof Phil Watson, Oceans Graduate School