Opening the Underwater Internet of Things World

Pukyong National University Advances Underwater IoT Technology Development
Professor Jeong Wanyeong's Team Selected for Korea Research Foundation Basic Research Laboratory

Professors Opilgeon, Baek Gangjun, Jeong Wanyeong of Pukyong National University, and Son Yunguk of Chosun University.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Kim Yong-woo] Research on ‘smart aquaculture’ that utilizes Internet of Things technology even underwater is gaining attention.

A research team developing underwater Internet of Things technology has emerged to foster the smart aquaculture sector, which is recognized as a future new industry.

This is the research titled ‘Development of Core Materials, Components, and Communication Systems for Underwater IoT (Internet of Things) Attached to Aquatic Organisms for a Smart Aquaculture Platform’ by Professor Jeong Wan-young’s team (Department of Electronic Engineering) at Pukyong National University.

Professor Jeong’s team was selected for this research project as a new basic research laboratory project (ICT·Convergence Research - Information Technology Convergence field) by the National Research Foundation of Korea this year.

Accordingly, the research team will receive about 1.3 billion KRW in research funding over three years starting this month to develop core underwater IoT materials, components, and communication technologies that can be directly attached to cultured fish.

The goal is to develop an eco-friendly, high-productivity smart aquaculture platform capable of monitoring fish growth characteristics and aquaculture environment.

For convergence research, this project involves Professor Jeong along with Professors Baek Kang-jun and Oh Pil-geon from the Department of Printed Information Engineering at Pukyong National University, and Professor Son Yoon-guk from the Department of Electrical Engineering at Chosun University as joint participants.

Conceptual diagram of underwater Internet of Things technology.

In this project, they plan to develop core underwater IoT technologies including high-efficiency ultrasonic and short-range visible light underwater communication technologies, ubiquitous sensor network technology, flexible and stretchable energy storage materials and design technologies stable in underwater environments, highly flexible and stretchable underwater sensor technologies for measuring fish body and biological signals, hybrid printed electronic circuit technology to support sensor operation and underwater communication, and high-performance aquatic bio-binder technology for attaching UIoT sensors to fish body surfaces.

Along with this, these technologies will be utilized as a platform for eco-friendly smart aquaculture and fishery resource development, and demonstration studies on smart aquaculture environment evaluation at mass production stages and corresponding productivity changes will also be conducted.

Professor Jeong Wan-young of Pukyong National University said, “Through this research, we expect to digitalize and intelligentize the currently labor-intensive, low-productivity fishery aquaculture industry and secure core original technologies to realize a high value-added smart aquaculture platform.”