EcoBuoy

🌊 Tagline

“EcoBuoy: The affordable, smart buoy that predicts and prevents fish losses by monitoring pond health in real-time.”

💡 What Inspired Us

Fish farming is a vital source of affordable protein worldwide. Yet poor water quality often goes unnoticed until it’s too late — causing mass fish deaths, algae blooms, foul smells, wasted water, and lost income for farmers. Current solutions are either manual (too slow) or lab-grade (too expensive).

📚 What We Learned

We discovered that running aerators 24/7 wastes huge amounts of energy and water, while manual sampling rarely prevents disasters. Preventive monitoring and smart alerts are far more effective than reacting after fish die.

🛠 How We Built It

We designed EcoBuoy, a floating, low-cost water quality monitor that:

Tracks pH, temperature, and turbidity in real-time.

Predicts danger (low oxygen, ammonia spikes) before it happens.

Triggers aeration/dosing only when needed, saving energy.

Sends notifications and risk scores to an app for offline farmers.

Costs under $100 compared to traditional $10,000 equipment.

Uses modular sensors, rechargeable waterproof casing, and Bluetooth/LoRa for data transmission in areas without Wi-Fi.

⚠️ Challenges We Faced

Making sensors affordable yet reliable.

Designing a waterproof and low-maintenance casing.