Our goal is to develop and construct an underwater drone for studying and monitoring aquatic ecosystems with a DIY approach.
Studies below the water surface usually require significant effort, but are needed for biological monitoring. Commercially available solutions cost thousands of euros, too much for many organisations and users with limited budgets.
We would like to close this gap by developing a low-cost underwater drone that is fit for purpose.
The realization of stable and user-friendy communication between the underwater drone and the user - who is ashore - is a particular challenge, as a conventional wireless link - typically used for flying drones - cannot be used due to the dielectric properties of water.
Another challenge is the protection of all electronics from water.
The underwater drone will be used within biology lessons in order to assess its performance under realistic conditions and to guide further optimization. The final product - a fit-for-purpose underwater drone - shall contribute to improved biological monitoring of aquatic ecosystems by enabling widespread use through low cost.
To enable widespread use and scientific collaboration, we will publish all construction plans and the software configuration with an open source licence on GitHub.
