Battery less Underwater Wireless Sensing for Ocean IoT

Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Overview

We design, develop, and test low-cost battery less underwater devices that are capable of harvesting energy and transmit their sensor information by backscattering acoustic signals from ambient or active sources underwater. The rate at which the device reflects sounds can change dynamically based on embedded logic that controls the impedance of a piezoceramic cylinder. We build a proof-of-concept prototype with off-the-shelf piezoelectric transducers and a temperature sensor and demonstrate that we can successfully decode backscattered signals using an AI-assisted receiver.

Community Benefit: Our device removes the need for cables and batteries to wirelessly connect underwater sensors. The devices can be deployed with an extremely minimal impact to the environment as they only work passively (they do not emit sounds) and allow the collection of data sustainably and persistently for long periods of time. Given the ease of deploying these devices in large amounts and their minimal environmental impact, we can rapidly deploy underwater sensors in tens or hundreds to help with the exploration and understanding of our oceans.

Team Members

• Steven Givens
• Jamal Grant
• Craig Peroni
  
• Stinson Vallery
• Chelsea Zuvieta

Sponsor

FAU Center for Connected Autonomy and Artificial Intelligence