Custom Design, Fabrication, And Testing Of Environmental Data Systems For Use In Oyster Aquaculture Final Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program Report to the Louisiana Sea Grant College Program

Oyster aquaculture has been significant to the Louisiana seafood industry for more than a century. Emerging challenges are driving the need to better understand environmental factors involved in farming oysters. This project aimed to design an open‐hardware logger system that would allow farmers and researchers to measure some of these factors. The Oyster Logger, a data logging device for use in field applications, was designed and tested at the Aquatic Germplasm and Genetic Resources Center (AGGRC), with an emphasis placed on casing testing and measurement accuracy. The goal was to fabricate an open‐hardware device with advanced data collection capabilities that could help to improve the productivity of oyster aquaculture. The objectives of this project were to: 1) design prototype devices; 2) fabricate prototype devices which collect, store, and transfer temperature and movement data, and 3) test prototype devices for proper operation and to improve the design. While not completely waterproof itself, the casing kept the electrical components of the Oyster Logger in a compact, stable position for data collection purposes. From an engineering perspective, faults in the real time clock (RTC) module and other components caused minor measurement errors, but these inaccuracies were deemed to be insignificant in applied settings. These results show potential for the project to grow and act as a foundation for other logger systems that can be customized to the needs of oyster farmers and researchers.