SMARTPOL – Status 2022–2023

The proposed project involves the development of a modern concept involving artificial intelligence,
real-time monitoring of pollutants using IoT platforms and subsequent data processing.

SMARTPOL Functional Components

Interactive Software (ISW) is responsible for defining the technical aspects involved in the collection
of pollution data at USV level and their transmission to the command and coordination center.
Within the command and coordination center, ISW delivers a USV monitoring and remote control application.

Activities performed during 2022 focused on the objectives defined for Stage 1 of the project,
starting from current operational procedures for marine pollution monitoring.
The SMARTPOL team concentrated on prevention, real-time acquisition and post-processing of pollution data.

General Working Procedure

Detection is mainly achieved through the analysis of satellite imagery together with AIS
(Automatic Identification System) vessel information.
Potential pollution events are confirmed by the SMARTPOL drone equipped with dedicated sensors.

ISW investigated the architectural components responsible for data acquisition,
communications and integration into the SMARTPOL Command & Control system.
The components developed by ISW include the C2 Software,
Data Communication System and
Data Acquisition System.

SMARTPOL Architecture

The IoT module integrated into the USV platform provides sensor integration,
data acquisition and secure communications towards the command center.
The module has been designed as a reusable and standardized solution
for pilot deployments in Turkey, Malta and South Africa.

The architecture is based on open data structures, APIs and software libraries,
allowing interoperability with existing and future monitoring systems.

Prototype Development

During 2022 and 2023 the project focused on developing functional prototypes,
IoT modules, environmental sensors, acquisition boards and data visualization capabilities.

Initial experiments were performed using Arduino UNO R3 and Arduino Wireless boards.
Temperature and turbidity sensors were integrated into the first laboratory prototypes,
while Firebase cloud services were used for secure storage and visualization.

Communication Infrastructure

Following the stabilization of the system architecture,
professional hardware for the acquisition subsystem was procured.
The communication subsystem evolved from Wi-Fi prototypes
towards LoRa long-range communications.

Development Laboratory

Commercial LoRa equipment and laboratory prototypes were integrated
into the SMARTPOL development environment.
Connectivity tests confirmed reliable long-distance communication
between the USV platform and the command center.

LoRa Gateway

Experimental tests demonstrated that LoRa technology is suitable
for transmitting GPS coordinates, telemetry and command messages.
Transmission of video streams over LoRa proved impractical because
of bandwidth limitations, therefore LoRa remains the backup communication channel.

The SMARTPOL project was presented during the MarTERA Autumn Conference (2022)
and at the consortium meeting held in Istanbul in September 2023,
where all partners reviewed the achieved milestones and agreed on the next
integration activities.