Update: It’s now March 2017, so you can amend the title to *nearly eight months* – wow! Wayne writes, “the Arduino Drifting Buoy”… “is still functioning! We’re at over 220 days and about 2500 NM from where we started. Only 700 NM to Spain and Portugal. Working on a V3 for deployment this summer, also with a Trinket Pro (3V this time to save power).”
Thanks to Wayne for sending this in – him and his team built a “drifter” floating buoy that transmits data back multiple times a day including lat/long, water temp from 1′ below the surface, speed (knots), tilt angle, and more. Check out a map of the buoy’s movement here, and the full project site is here.
On Sunday 24 July 2016, after months of building and testing, we deployed a small drifting buoy 50 miles off the coast of Virginia. The buoy has a satellite transmitter and sends position and water temperature back to shore.
Here’s a quick video testing the buoy including an intentional upside-down drop to see how the buoy rights itself:
And the deployment video from July 24th, about 50 miles offshore east of Virginia Beach in the Atlantic Ocean:
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