Between June 16 and 19, the OCEANS 2025 Conference took place in Brest, France. OCEANS is a major international forum for scientists, engineers, and end-users to present and discuss the latest research results, innovations, and applications in all areas of ocean science and engineering. The event is co-sponsored by the Marine Technology Society and the IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society. One of the highlights of the conference is the prestigious Student Poster Competition (SPC), which provides selected students with travel grants to attend and present their work.
The PLOME Project participated in two SPC presentations. Joan Armajach, a JAEIntro fellow from ICM-CSIC, presented the paper “Geolocation and tracking of Pop-up buoys using ADALM-PLUTO software-defined radio and a Blueboat unmanned surface vessel.” Carlos de la Vega, from SARTI-UPC, presented “Compression and segmentation methods on Argos-based image transmission for environmental seafloor monitoring.”
Both papers highlighted advancements in retrieving data from benthic instrument nodes in semi-real time using Pop-up buoys, a key component of the PLOME Project. These buoys store valuable information about the benthic ecosystem and, once released to the surface, can transmit part of the data to shore servers via satellite communication. They can also be located and tracked by autonomous vehicles, aiding researchers in the recovery of both the data and the devices.
“This work was partially supported by a 2024 Leonardo Grant for Scientific Research and Cultural Creation from the BBVA Foundation (LEO24-1-13125). “
