IoT Buoy

Lake Erie Algae Bloom 2019, (Image credit NOAA)

An open source, low-cost envirnmental buoy designed to monitor the health of lakes, rivers, estuaries and tidal regions with particular emphasis on algae blooms. Designed by Analytical Mechanics Associates and the Virginia Modeling, Analysis & Simulation Center (VMASC). This project is compatible with the Open Data Cube, which is an open-source platform that can ingest data from a variety of sensors and has the goal of making environmental monitoring simple and highly accessible. An overview of the current progress is posted here

Building your Buoy - Buoy Specific Hardware Required

1. Arduino MEGA or ELEGOO MEGA

• Arduino MEGA R3

• ELEGOO MEGA R3 (cheaper)

2. Adafruit Boost Converter

3. SIM 808 GPRS/GSM Shield

4. Adafruit Solar Charger

5. Adafruit Data Logging Shield

• Requires CR1220 Coin Cell Battery

• Adafruit Data Logging Shield Board and Schematic

• Adafruit Data Logging Shield Fritzing Object

6. Adafruit ADS1115 Analog to Digital Converter

• ADS1115 Hardware Drivers

• ADS1115 Board and Schematics

• ADS1115 Fritzing Object

• ADS1115 Data Sheet

• ADS1115 Sample Code

7. Adafruit 6V 3.5W Solar Panel

• Solar Panel Technical Drawing

10. 6600 mAh 3.7V Lithium Ion Battery

11. Adafruit TPL5110 Breakout Board

12. Adafruit Power Boost 1000 Breakout Board

12. Housing

• Buoy with CAD files provided here

• Waterproof box

• Your own design

Fluorometer Design

1. 1 x 395 nm LED

2. FDS 100 Photodiode

3. 550 nm Cut On Long Pass Filter

4. Jewler's Resin

5. Black ABS Filament (will be useful for turbidity sensor as well)

Turbidity Sensor Design

1. 2 x Photoresistors

2. 1 x RGB LED

3. Jewler's Resin

4. Black ABS Filament (will be useful for fluorometer as well)

Other Items Required

• SD Card
• Jumper wires
• Header pins
• Solder
• Soldering iron
• Wire strippers
• Heat shrink tubing
• Electrical tape
• DP 100 epoxy
• Rope/anchor OR Rope/mooring OR free-floating

Other Interesting Sensors

• BME 680 Temperature, Pressure and Humidity Sensor

• DHT-11 Temperature/Humidity Sensor

• DHT-22 Temperature/Humidity Sensor

• Waterproof Thermistor

• pH Sensor - TEKCOPLUS OR

• pH Sensor - Vernier

• Turbidity Sensor

• MPU 6050 Inertial Measurement Unit (for wave height, direction etc.)

Fabrication

• Read the "Complete Guide to Building Your Very Own Algae Monitoring Buoy"

Viewing Results

• Download jupyter to your computer and run "Visualization_Notebook.ipynb"