What is the Smartfin?

The Smartfin is an innovative surfboard fin with sensors that measure significant ocean properties. These properties aid researchers and coastal communities in comprehending trends in ocean health. With the Smartfin, surfers can become citizen scientists, effortlessly converting wave sets into data sets while enjoying their favorite surfing spots. Over the past several years, researchers and scientists have been striving to obtain baseline information about changing ocean chemistry. However, collecting data in a nearshore environment such as the surf zone, characterized by high-energy dynamics, presents a significant challenge. Nonetheless, a small group of scientists and engineers recently developed a novel tool to advance this critical area of research: the Smartfin.

The Smartfin is designed with sensors that measure multiple ocean parameters, including temperature, location, and wave characteristics. Additional sensors that measure pH, dissolved oxygen, and chlorophyll are currently in development. Through an app installed on their phone, surfers can access the data they acquire while in the water, made available in near real-time to the global scientific community. Yet, Smartfin is not solely about data collection. It also seeks to connect surfers and their communities to larger ocean health issues. By utilizing the data collected with the Smartfin, we will be able to gain a better understanding of trends in ocean warming and acidification, and mobilize our communities to take action to address these issues that arise from climate change.

Mission: Catch waves to save them!

Smartfin's mission is to contribute to the monitoring and preservation of ocean health through the development and distribution of surfboard fins equipped with advanced sensors. By measuring and collecting data on key ocean properties, such as temperature, pH, and salinity, Smartfin aims to provide valuable insights to researchers and coastal communities. This data can help identify trends and potential threats to the ocean ecosystem, ultimately contributing to efforts to promote its long-term sustainability. #SurfZone

Project Overview

Difficult to measure oceanographic data near shores due to waves and high visitor density

Smartfin: surfboard fin designed to allow surfers to collect data while surfing areas

Goals:

- Create process for consistent fin construction
- Strengthen fin to prevent breakage

Functional Requirements

Allow for the production of as many SmartFins as possible before the failure of the mold
Must be able to fit into a slot inside of surfboard
Must include 4 electronic components: lithium-ion battery, circuit board, temperature sensor, antenna

Collect Data

The Smartfin fills an information gap left by other technologies which aren’t suited for the dynamic and aggressive nearshore environment.

Build Community

None of us will solve climate change alone, but by mobilizing empowered communities of ocean advocates we can create real, large-scale change.

Protect the Ocean

We depend on coastal ecosystems for food, safety, and economic opportunity. We must understand how they’re changing to conserve them.

The Smartfin brings surfers and scientists together to collect important oceanic data from coastlines by developing a surfboard fin that can passively collect significant scientific observations while catching waves - then seamlessly upload it to a cloud for use by scientists.

Designed to Measure:

Temperature
Location
Wave Characteristics

Additional sensors currently in development to study

- pH
- Dissolved oxygen
- Chlorophyll

High-Risk Areas:

Fin snapping at the halfway point

- Analysis needed on why
- What materials methods can prevent this

Waterproofing

- Damage to sensor
- Lithium battery in water environment

Mold strength/reliability

- Process needs to be repeated
- Mold breaking will reduce production

Today

Currently, the Smartfin is very accurate at measuring sea surface temperature (SST) through its onboard temperature sensor, as measured against a control of the Scripps Buoy. Recently, it has also shown that it can calculate certain wave statistics, such as wave height, very accurately. The Smartfin calculates wave height through a Kalman Filter and spectral analysis. The spectral analysis will determine wave height from acceleration data, and a Kalman Filter will reduce noise generated while collecting data about the position of the fin.

There are several challenges to overcome before all wave statistics can be measured, as real ocean waves provide the sensors with very noisy data that can be difficult to interpret. In addition, the control buoy is far enough off-shore that there can be a discrepancy between its measured values and the Smartfins, making it difficult to determine if the Smartfin’s calculated values align with the buoy’s. An ongoing project to solve this issue is creating a filter that can remove data that is too far away from the expected results. These data points come up sometimes due to overly noisy data, or when there is too big of a discrepancy between the control values and the actual wave statistics for that day. Another possible way of solving this would be to build a program that can compare the results of individual Smartfin users within the same area against one another, eliminating the need for an off-shore control buoy.

Future

The purpose of this project is to create a process and documentation for the production of the Smartfin. A demonstration of this process producing one fin will be required at the project completion to show its effectiveness. It will utilize epoxy resin and fiberglass to create a fin with embedded sensors. The documentation is to be simple enough to be understood and implemented by someone with no knowledge of the project. This project will further the sponsor’s research by allowing them to create more units and gather more data usingthe fins.

With climate change posing a growing threat to our society, oceanography has become an increasingly valuable tool for investigating its effects and the anticipated consequences. At present, satellites and off-shore buoys are utilized to examine numerous ocean parameters such as sea surface temperature, salinity, ocean currents, and wave statistics. Such data assists scientists in studying ocean currents and nutrient flow, which help in determining how ecosystems are adapting to changes. Nevertheless, these two methods are incapable of collecting essential data close to the shore in what is referred to as the surf zone because the seabed is too shallow and the conditions are too harsh to accommodate either system.

To address this challenge, the Surfrider Foundation has teamed up with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography to create a solution known as Smartfin. This innovative technology allows surfers to passively collect critical data while they are in the water. The Smartfin hardware comprises several sensors designed to measure temperature, location, and wave characteristics, with additional sensors currently in development to study pH, dissolved oxygen, and chlorophyll. Preliminary testing of the Smartfin has demonstrated its potential, as temperature data obtained from the board was compared to standard data collected from a near offshore buoy run by Scripps. By providing this tool to surfers in select locations, where many beaches lack this capability, ordinary citizens will be empowered to make significant scientific observations while catching waves.

UCSD TEAM #27

Melissa Chan, Sara An, Michael Hobrock, Gus Blankenburg, and Tommy Sardarian

Connected Impact Policy

Smartfin is a collaborative effort between surfers and scientists to gather crucial oceanic data from coastlines by creating a surfboard fin that can passively collect information and easily upload it to the cloud for use by scientists.

Mission: Catch waves to save them!

Functional Requirements

The Smartfin fills an information gap left by other technologies which aren’t suited for the dynamic and aggressive nearshore environment.

None of us will solve climate change alone, but by mobilizing empowered communities of ocean advocates we can create real, large-scale change.

We depend on coastal ecosystems for food, safety, and economic opportunity. We must understand how they’re changing to conserve them.

The Smartfin brings surfers and scientists together to collect important oceanic data from coastlines by developing a surfboard fin that can passively collect significant scientific observations while catching waves - then seamlessly upload it to a cloud for use by scientists.

Temperature

Location

Wave Characteristics

Additional sensors currently in development to study

pH

Dissolved oxygen

Chlorophyll

Fin snapping at the halfway point

Analysis needed on why

What materials methods can prevent this

Waterproofing

Damage to sensor

Lithium battery in water environment

Mold strength/reliability

Process needs to be repeated

Mold breaking will reduce production

Today

Future

Connected Impact Policy