Floating Sensor Network project sees smartphones go for a swim

Yes, we have seen waterproof smartphone cases that are so thin, you can even encase that in another protective case if you are feeling paranoid. The Floating Sensor Network project, however, will also make your handset waterproof, but for a very different reason. This is because the Floating Sensor Network project relies on a network of mobile sensors which can be deployed quickly so that real-time, high-resolution data in hard-to-map waterways can be recorded. Recently, a field test was conducted by engineers at the University of California, Berkeley, showing how such water-monitoring technology might just turn the tide (pardon the pun) in the way government agencies monitor water resources.

This field test will basically enable researchers to check out how water moves through a junction in the river, and according to project leader Alexandre Bayen, “Monitoring the state’s water supply is critical for the general public, water researchers and government agencies, which now rely upon costly fixed water sensor stations that don’t always generate sufficient data for modeling and prediction. The mobile probes we are using could potentially expand coverage in the Delta—on demand—to hundreds of miles of natural and manmade channels that are currently under-monitored, and help agencies responsible for managing the state’s limited water supply.”

Interesting, don’t you think so? Even better is this – such sensors can be deployed from a dock, shore, boats or even helicopters, as the flaoting sensors will then track water flow in greater detail than ever before.