Development of an Integrated Electrochemical Sensing System to Monitor Port Water Quality Using Autonomous Robotic Fish

The development of autonomous systems for environmental monitoring is a great challenge posed to scientists. Robots might offer an interesting solution for monitoring where access is difficult such as oceans and seas. Here, we describe the approach envisaged for pollution monitoring in port waters based on robot fish equipped with chemical sensors. We will briefly review the state of the art of environmental sensors before describing the electrochemical sensors and instrumentation developed to be integrated inside a robot fish. Finally, we will present laboratory and real sample tests obtained with the developed electrochemical microsystems.