Acoustic detection of vessels or submarines by small low-cost devices arranged in an internet of underwater things (IoUT) offers distributed sensing with easy deployment from moorings, vessels or air. A key technology for IoUT is energy harvesting to extend operation time. We identify high potential in the acoustic ambient noise, reaching 1W of possible renewable energy. We will design novel swarm of energy efficient IoUT floaters to detect vessels or submarines while extracting energy from transients of ambient noise by use of a dense array of polymer-based hydrophones, to revolutionize underwater sensing by doubling operation time for months without charging.

Project partners:

Roee Diamant, Nikola Mišković, Jeff Neasham (York university, UK), Lutz Lampe (UBC, Canada)