IoT Takes on Aquaculture

Internet of Things (IoT) devices may take a lot of flak because of the internet-connected coffee makers and washing machines produced by overzealous manufacturers wanting to jump on the bandwagon. But there have been some major successes in this space as well, with agriculture, in particular, benefiting tremendously from advances in IoT technologies. Large sensor networks, for instance, have helped farmers to more efficiently apply water and fertilizer, identify and deter pests, and increase crop yields.

The successes seen when applying IoT techniques to traditional farming operations have certainly not gone unnoticed by those working in aquaculture. However, aquaculture has its own set of challenges that prevent traditional solutions from being used. The aqueous environment, for example, is incompatible with the electronic systems typically deployed on land, and the more remote locations of these operations lack the Wi-Fi connectivity that they rely on for data transmission.

The creative engineers at Coder’s Cafe believe that these issues can be overcome with the right choice of modern components and a little bit of clever design work. As a first step into the field of aquaculture, they have developed a shrimp monitoring buoy. Keeping close tabs on water quality is absolutely essential to shrimp farming, so their buoy continually monitors several important metrics and reports them over cellular networks, which tend to be more available and reliable than Wi-Fi where shrimp farms are located.

The shrimp monitoring buoy is built around Particle’s B524 SoM, which enables IoT devices to communicate via cellular networks. This module is used with a M.2 SoM Evaluation Board, which breaks out all of its pins and provides standard connectors and power management. A battery of sensors, to measure temperature, pH, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, and total dissolved solids, was included to capture relevant environmental metrics. A set of six solar panels keep an 1800mAh battery charged up so that the buoy does not need frequent maintenance.

The buoy’s physical design was also carefully considered to ensure durability and ease of deployment in harsh aquatic environments. Its body is fully 3D-printed using PLA filament, chosen for its light weight and water resistance. A modular design allows easy access to internal components for maintenance or upgrades, while protecting the sensitive electronics from moisture. Strategic placement of the solar panels around the buoy’s upper surface maximizes sunlight exposure throughout the day, while the buoyant lower section ensures stability even in choppy water.

The Particle Console was leveraged to integrate the device with Ubidots via webhooks. In this way, real-time sensor data can be streamed to a clean, user-friendly dashboard where each parameter can be analyzed. Using this dashboard, farmers can look for trends and identify potential issues before they become a real problem.

To aid developers and farmers alike, Coder’s Cafe has made the buoy’s firmware and hardware schematics freely available. This move aims to promote further development and customization to suit different aquatic species or environmental conditions. It is their hope that this work will help farmers respond more quickly to deteriorating water conditions, which could reduce shrimp stress, disease outbreaks, and mass mortality events.