Development of an Autonomous RC Catamaran for Surveillance and Pollution Monitoring

As a leading resource in the world, water has been useful in many aspects of our daily life, like drinking, farming resources, and some technological developments also need water. However, the growth of industrial activities and the human population has made water quality becoming a critical problem, especially in Malaysia. Thus, it is essential to monitor the water quality regularly so it can be safely used. This study proposes the development of autonomous radio control (RC) catamaran to be used for surveillance and water pollution monitoring. The solution is based on creating a self-autonomous boat with a multi-hull catamaran that contains several sensors to record the water quality around the Lake Tropica in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Johor Bahru Campus. The catamaran comprises a water quality monitoring system, an autonomous ground controller, and an autopilot navigation system. The data for water quality monitoring, including pH and temperature, was recorded in the mobile storage in real-time. Finally, results from the water quality analysis revealed that it was within the range of being clean and safe for everyday use when compared to the Department of Environment standard.