Design and deployment of a smart system for data gathering in aquaculture tanks using wireless sensor networks

Summary The design of monitoring systems for marine areas has increased in the last years. One of the many advantages of wireless sensor networks is the quick process in data acquisition. The information from sensors can be processed, stored, and transmitted using protocols efficiently designed to energy saving and establishing the fastest routes. The processing and storing of data can be very useful for taking intelligent decisions for improving the water quality. The monitoring of water exchange in aquaculture tanks is very important to monitor the fish welfare. Thus, this paper presents the design, deployment, and test of a smart data gathering system for monitoring several parameters in aquaculture tanks using a wireless sensor network. The system based on a server is able to request and collect data from several nodes and store them in a database. This information can be postprocessed to take efficient decisions. The paper also presents the design of a conductivity sensor and a level sensor. These sensors are installed in several aquaculture tanks. The system was implemented using Flyport modules. Finally, the data gathering system was tested in terms of consumed bandwidth and the delay Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) packets delivering data from the sensors.