Water Intellibuoy—An EPS@ISEP 2018 Project

Abstract

This paper reports the collaborative learning experience of a team of five Erasmus students who participated in EPS@ISEP—the European Project Semester (EPS) at Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto (ISEP)—during the spring of 2018. EPS@ISEP is a project-based learning capstone programme for third and fourth year engineering, product design and business students, focussing on teamwork and multidisciplinary problem solving as well as on the development of sustainable and ethical practices. In this context, the Team developed a drifting intelligent buoy to monitor the water quality of urban water spaces. Motivated by the desire to build an intelligent buoy for urban water bodies, the Team conducted several scientific, technical, sustainability, marketing, ethical and deontological analyses. Based on the findings, it has derived the requirements, designed the structure and functional system, selected the list of components and providers and assembled a proof of concept prototype. The result is Aquality, an intelligent drifting buoy prototype, designed for private sustainable pools. Aquality monitors the quality of the pool water by measuring its temperature and turbidity, while interfacing with the user through a mobile application. Considering the EPS@ISEP learning experience, the Team valued the knowledge and skills acquired, and, particularly, the collaborative learning and working component of the project, i.e., working together towards one goal while maintaining high motivation and cohesion.