Aquasam (Autonomous Water Quality Sampling Robot)

Monitoring salinity & temperature for NW Florida’s coastal waters is important for the vitality of oyster beds which represent a large economic lifeline in the area. Measuring multi water depth salinity & temperature maps was a costly process that involved teams of people going out to sea using handheld equipment on expensive to operate boats. The Florida State Marine Laboratory asked for an autonomous high speed offshore 3D mapping vessel for under $1,000 as an alternative. My senior deign team took on the challenge. I decided to use an old trickster Kayak hull as a base and helped design & test all the mechanical systems as well as integrate the electronics. Our electrical engineers made a novel way to transmit data and control new auto waypoints using coded UHF radio which can travel for several miles over water.