PEN05 - AquaLab: Real-Time Water Quality Monitoring Platform with Aquatic Drones

AquaLab is an autonomous aquatic drone that collects water quality data (pH, temperature, turbidity, conductivity, etc.). In this challenge, we want to collect data using multiple sensors and develop a real-time communication system to transmit this information to a dedicated web platform for visualizing the collected data. With the help of AI, we intend to generate automatic reports and alerts about water quality.

During the Ocean Hackathon® in Peniche, our mission is to build a complete real-time water quality monitoring platform using aquatic drones from scratch:

1. Develop a robust communication system (ESP32, LoRa, 4G) between the drone and the cloud, ensuring stable long-range data transmission.
2. Create an interactive website that displays live data: physico-chemical parameters, parameter evolution graphs, and automatic contamination alerts.
3. Integrate the entire system from sensor-reading electronics to web visualization and physically mount it on our drones.

We will also explore integrating external sources (satellite imagery, public oceanographic data) to enrich the analysis. With this work, we want to transform our current prototype into a platform ready for use by municipalities, environmental agencies, and schools, helping to prevent disasters and protect our ecosystems.

We will build a complete water quality monitoring system from scratch.

Over 48 hours, the team will:
(1) Assemble and integrate sensors (pH, temperature, turbidity, etc.) with ESP32 microcontrollers;
(2) Develop a long‑range, low‑power LoRa communication system for reliable data transmission;
(3) Create a web platform (dashboard) to visualise real‑time data and basic anomaly detection;
(4) Integrate all components into our aquatic drones; and (5) Conduct a live field test in a coastal or river environment in Peniche to validate range, stability, and data accuracy.

The outcome will be a fully functional prototype, ready for real‑world deployment.

Identified members: Although I am submitting as an individual, I already have contacts from the AquaLab project who are interested in participating. We will formalize a team of 3–8 people before the event.
Essential skills we are looking for:
• Software development (web dashboard and real‑time data visualization)
• Electronics and IoT (sensors, communication, LoRa, ESP32, Mounting hardware on aquatic drones)
• Environmental engineering (water quality data interpretation and field validation)
• Machine learning (environmental data analysis and modeling)
• UX/UI design (intuitive prototype interface)
• Project management (coordination, social impact orientation)