Project WiCCED

• Thomas Mullenberg, Electrical Engineering, University of Delaware
• Rocco Dumnich, Electrical Engineering, University of Delaware
• Michael Schleider, Computer Engineering, University of Delaware

• Richard Martin, ECE Department, University of Delaware
• Mohsen Badiey, ECE Department, University of Delaware

Project WiCCED is research based around creation and deployment of data-measuring buoys in order to study the properties of natural bodies of water. The intention of the project is to observe and measure the “Water in the Changing Coastal Environment of Delaware”, better described by its acronym, WiCCED, These buoys are designed to be a low-cost, floating measurement tool equipped with various sensors and instruments designed to be tough against the environment as the system collects critical data about the water while also ensuring the protection of sea life. These devices were designed with the intention of remaining compact and easy to deploy.

Each one of the attached sensors is periodically polled to collect data, which is read and stored to an SD card that is attached to one of the two custom printed circuit boards that compose the device.  In addition to the data being written to an SD Card, it is also sent via on-board LTE to a remote API server that tracks, logs, and visualizes the real-time data.  Some of the data recorded by the device includes temperature, salinity, and pH, and others, along with fundamental device data such as battery charge, solar intensity, and geolocation.  The devices are also equipped with solar panels, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, and a battery charging circuit, which should allow the devices to be deployed for extended periods with low maintenance.