In Florida, Wahoo Bay is a stunning half-acre of sparkling water that’s home to tropical fish and endangered seagrass within its marine sanctuary. Originally planned as a snorkel park, delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have given Wahoo Bay a new opportunity to become an educational environment instead. This has attracted scientists from various universities who have transformed the bay into a testing ground for underwater technologies.
At the forefront of this technological revolution is the Internet of Things (IoT), a complex technology that’s difficult to implement in the ocean. With floating sensors, autonomous vehicles, and wireless robots, IoT applications can revolutionize various fields such as science, military, commerce, and conservation.
Underwater IoT holds great promise for expanding our understanding of marine ecosystems and aiding in conservation efforts. With over 70% of the Earth’s surface covered by the ocean and only 5% explored by humans, there’s much left to discover about our planet’s most mysterious depths.
Research assistant Waleed Akbar from the MIT Media Lab is one scientist who’s dedicated to developing underwater IoT despite its challenges. His research group at MIT specializes in low-cost and battery-free IoT technologies, including wireless underwater cameras. While traditional underwater IoT devices have relied on batteries with limited lifespans, advances in technology are working to overcome these challenges. Narrow bandwidth, high costs, and energy consumption are all issues that researchers are working to address in order to make large-scale deployment of underwater IoT devices possible.
Overall, Wahoo Bay represents an exciting opportunity for innovation and discovery in the field of underwater exploration. As technology continues to advance, we can expect to see even more incredible breakthroughs in our understanding of our planet’s oceans and their role in supporting life on Earth.
