SoFAR and DARPA Standardize Ocean Monitoring with Bristlemouth

The Importance of Ocean Monitoring and a New Open Standard

The world’s ocean is crucial to numerous industries; however, our comprehensive understanding of its current state remains limited. To encourage the development of advanced ocean-monitoring devices, Sofar Ocean Technologies and DARPA are introducing an open hardware standard known as Bristlemouth.

This initiative aims to provide researchers with a readily available solution, preventing the unnecessary expenditure of grant funding on repeatedly addressing common engineering challenges.

Sofar Ocean Technologies and Real-Time Ocean Intelligence

Sofar describes itself as a “real-time ocean intelligence platform,” functioning similarly to a weather service for the marine environment. Unlike atmospheric observation, the ocean requires a substantial network of devices deployed across its surface to accurately assess its movements, salinity, pollutant concentrations, and temperature.

While Sofar maintains its own network of floats, generating valuable data for commercial purposes, the company is also committed to advancing the broader ocean-sensing industry.

Addressing the Lack of Standardization

CTO Evan Shapiro emphasizes that establishing an open hardware and software standard is a key step in this advancement. A significant obstacle to progress is the absence of a standardized hardware connectivity approach.

Currently, a considerable portion of research budgets is allocated to resolving fundamental technical issues – power, data transmission, and communication connectivity – rather than focusing on innovative ocean technologies, Shapiro explained to TechCrunch.

Parallels to the Space Industry

This situation mirrors the evolution of the space industry, where companies are increasingly adopting standardized buses and spacecraft designs. Researchers prefer to concentrate their resources on specialized instruments, such as those for measuring radiation or analyzing space dust, rather than constructing entire spacecraft.

Similarly, Sofar believes ocean researchers would benefit from focusing on their core technologies instead of rebuilding essential components from scratch.

Bristlemouth: Focusing on Core Innovation

“Researchers typically aim to develop specialized sensors, like hydrophones for detecting dolphins, but often find themselves compelled to build the entire supporting infrastructure – power systems, satellite telemetry, GPS – as well,” Shapiro stated.

“Sofar’s support and commercial implementation of Bristlemouth are essential for fostering a thriving ecosystem.”

Sofar’s interface for showing currents and other ocean conditions. Image Credits: Sofar Ocean Technologies

Collaboration with Key Organizations

DARPA, the Office of Naval Research, and Oceankind are among the organizations supporting the Bristlemouth initiative. All parties involved recognize the benefits of increased data collection from ocean sensing for both scientific research and industrial applications.

The Bristlemouth Standard: Modularity and Interoperability

The standard itself centers on modularity and interoperability, rather than offering a complete kit or reference model. The goal is to establish a shared standard for fundamental aspects like power management and communication.

This ensures that devices designed to the standard can seamlessly work together. Detailed information is available on the official Bristlemouth website.

A prototype device to demonstrate the Bristlemouth standard sits on a rusty dock. Image Credits: Sofar Ocean Technologies

The Future of Ocean Intelligence and the “Blue Economy”

Ocean intelligence will play a vital role in various sectors, including kelp farming, autonomous shipping, and climate change monitoring. By addressing the current data scarcity, initiatives like Bristlemouth can accelerate the development and safe expansion of the “blue economy.”

Mitigating this scarcity will allow these domains to flourish more rapidly and securely.