In the vast ocean, energy supply remains one of the primary challenges facing marine observation equipment. Drifting Buoys, in particular, often drift year-round in waters without a fixed power source. They must maintain long-term data collection while ensuring stable system operation. So, how does one achieve energy self-sufficiency at sea?
Our company's Drifting Buoy incorporates a highly efficient self-sufficient energy system design. By combining a solar photovoltaic system with a low-power electronic architecture, it achieves "zero external power supply and long-term autonomous operation." High-efficiency solar panels atop the buoy boast excellent photoelectric conversion efficiency, ensuring continuous power supply even in cloudy or low-light conditions at high latitudes. Furthermore, the system incorporates a built-in Smart Power Management Unit (SPMU), which dynamically adjusts power consumption based on the buoy's current mission status, ambient light, and battery level, ensuring maximum energy utilization.
In addition to its innovative energy harvesting, the Drifting Buoy's core control unit utilizes a low-power STM32 microprocessor, coupled with a nine-axis MEMS-IMU inertial navigation sensor. This not only enables high-precision wave monitoring, current velocity calculation, and attitude measurement, but also significantly reduces system operating energy consumption. The data acquisition and transmission module within the buoy utilizes a duty cycling mechanism, automatically entering sleep mode during non-observation periods, thereby extending overall flight time.
Furthermore, to adapt to the complex and changing marine environment, our drifting buoy's outer shell is constructed of a corrosion-resistant polyurethane composite material, offering high strength, UV resistance, and salt spray resistance. Its internal sealed compartment is waterproof-rated, ensuring the power module remains safe and stable in harsh sea conditions. These design features enable the buoy to operate continuously in open waters for months or even longer without requiring maintenance or battery replacement.
At the application level, the Drifting Buoy is widely used in ocean dynamics research, meteorological monitoring, environmental warnings, and shipping safety. For example, in marine scientific research, it can collect key data such as wave height, current velocity, temperature and salinity in real time; in weather forecasting, it provides high-frequency sea surface wind and wave information, providing data support for disaster prevention and mitigation.