Resumo:
Lakes and lagoons are a network of ecosystems in different geographical and climatic regions.
Many of the non-studied hydrographical systems are subject to negative effects of degradation
with destruction of river sides and pollution of rivers affluents, many of which are not monitored.
One of the major shortcomes for establishing a monitor routine of a water body is cost. Since
monitoring a water body or hydrographical system requires advanced equipment and specialized
personnel, the acquisition and implementation is prohibitive in many cases, especially for
developing countries. Another difficulty is that many of the ecosystems are shallow, making the
use of manned vessels impossible. Thus, this study aimed at developing and evaluate a remotely
controlled vessel, which is able to measure significant variables, such as temperature, pH and to
collect water samples. A global positioning system (GPS) obtains the location of the sample
collection in relation to the earth globe (geographic coordinates), these data are stored in a nonvolatile memory card. Additionally, the vessel is moved through solar energy, the navigation is
controlled by Arduino® electronic prototyping boards, based on an open source code. The
prototype was developed using low cost technologies and does not require specialized personnel
to assemble and operate. The robot vessel was tested in field, showing satisfactory results for pH
measurements, temperature and successfully collected water samples. The prototype is an
advance in terms of low-cost (estimated cost R$ 2,000.00) implementation for monitoring
hydrographic systems and was specially developed for environmental monitoring of shallow
bodies of water, this navigation capability has not been observed in other robot boat designs.
