The SARTI Group at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) takes part in the national project SMART-ME (Smart Monitoring of Marine Ecosystems), an initiative aimed at promoting the restoration of exploited Mediterranean seafloors by combining marine robotics, artificial intelligence, and ecological monitoring.

Coordinated by the Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM-CSIC) and with the participation of the University of Girona (UdG), the project will deploy a new deep-sea observatory named OBSEA-DEEP, located at 350 meters depth between Blanes and Palamós.

Within SMART-ME, the SARTI-UPC group leads the SMART-ME-NET subproject, focused on developing the communication and data network that will interconnect underwater platforms —landers, buoys, and autonomous vehicles— ensuring real-time ecological monitoring across the system.

“Our challenge is to make these platforms cooperate and share information autonomously, turning OBSEA-DEEP into a truly intelligent observatory,” says Daniel Mihai Toma, researcher at the SARTI-UPC group.

The project builds on the experience of the OBSEA cabled observatory, operated by SARTI off the coast of Vilanova i la Geltrú, and extends its concept toward deeper waters and more complex ecosystems.

Read the full article on the UPC website:

The SARTI-UPC boosts the connectivity and intelligence of the first deep-sea observatory in the Mediterranea