From 14 to 24 July 2025, the PLOME consortium carried out a new offshore campaign aboard the oceanographic vessel R/V Sarmiento de Gamboa. On this occasion, the team deployed Nemo, a Girona 500-class AUV operated by Iqua Robotics together with the UTM technicians, to produce high-resolution photo and sonar mosaics across the target areas. The campaign also featured the Girona 1000 AUV from the Universitat de Girona (UdG). Beyond collecting visual data, Girona 1000 executed adaptive surveying: images were analysed on board in real time, allowing the vehicle to modify its trajectory when potentially interesting features were detected. This capability was enabled by image-recognition models prepared by the Universitat de les Illes Balears (UIB).
Complementing the mobile assets, UIB deployed a static underwater camera with real-time detection capabilities, integrated into one of the landers developed at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC). In addition to imaging, the landers gathered a broad set of scientific measurements. They also supportedacoustic localisation for Girona 1000, enabling the AUV to estimate its position using range information from the landers.
The team evaluated several data-transfer pathways developed within PLOME: (i) optical-modem links between landers and the AUV; (ii) small pop-up surface buoys released from the landers; and (iii) acoustic communication relayed through surface buoys, powered by communication algorithms from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM).
All datasets collected during the campaign are now being processed by the partner teams. The Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) group will use the documented outputs to derive ecological indicators that improve the assessment of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), bringing the project closer to its goal of long-lasting, intelligent observation of the seafloor.
