Sensing and Sampling Drone for Water Quality Monitoring

This proposal is to explore the capability of an autonomous or semi-autonomous drone for sensing and sampling water quality. In particular, this will be achieved through the development of an innovative sensing and sampling system for water quality measurements that can be implemented in a drone. The drone will be capable to detect water via image processing, and to navigate over water while sensing and sampling. The system will be able to detect changes in the water environment such as pH level, nutrients, contaminants, temperature, etc. so that it can assist various applications like aquaculture [1], drinking water [2], aquatic habitats [3], etc. which have great impact in socio-economical activities. This project will adopt embedded systems, mechatronic systems, image and information processing, and communication technologies to build a sensing and sampling system suitable for implementation on a drone. The outcome of this project is to produce an innovative sensing and sampling system for water monitoring that can be implemented in a drone, and to develop and implement a navigation algorithm that allows for surface water exploration, sensing and sampling