Development of an IoT Platform for Ocean Observation Buoys

Abstract

In this paper, we propose an Internet of Things (IoT) platform for ocean observation buoys. The proposed system consists of various sensor modules, a gateway, and a remote monitoring site. In order to integrate sensor modules with various communications interfaces, we propose a controller area network (CAN)-based sensor data packet and a protocol for the gateway. The proposed scheme supports the registration and management of sensor modules so as to make it easier for the buoy system to manage various sensor modules. Also, in order to extend communication coverage between ocean observation buoys and the monitoring site, we implement a multi-hop relay network based on a mesh network that can provide greater communication coverage than conventional buoy systems. In addition, we verify the operation of the implemented multi-hop relay network by measuring the received signal strength indication between buoy nodes and by observing the collected data from the deployed buoy systems via our monitoring site.