WSENSE and Underwater Networking

WSENSE, a Bergen-based tech firm, has been making tremendous progress in this area. The firm develops high-functioning systems capable of wireless underwater sensory activities and real-time data collection.

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“It is a secure, standard and mesh-based wireless underwater network supporting all third-party sensors,” said WSENSE engineer Kristian Kasin Nordlie. “That brings lots of new use cases and opportunities to do things that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to do with a wired network”.

Originally founded at Sapienza University in Rome, WSENSE has since opened their main office in Greater Bergen.

“Opening an office in Bergen has been beneficial for us, without a doubt,” said Nordlie. “I think that it’s been very useful to be based in Bergen because the region has many similar organisations that work within the ocean industries. We’re constantly exchanging knowledge and ideas with different partners and stakeholders and developing new technologies together”.

Recognising the value of being in the region, WSENSE has been focusing on further growth, developing its core team, and expanding its presence in Bergen. Over the last year, this core team has grown to include 3 full-time employees and a consultant. By leveraging their collective skills, industry knowledge, networks and experience, the team will contribute to WSENSE’s product capabilities, networking, business development and overall goals.

Acoustics and IoUT

WSENSE’s technology is based on the Internet of Underwater Things (IoUT), which evolved from the Internet of Things (IoT) – networks of tech devices (such as smartphones, computers and home appliances) that are connected through software and sensors.

Although it has many benefits, IoT can only be used on dry land. This limitation created the need for IoUT, which offers similar connectivity underwater through acoustic signals. 

“With land-based networks, you use radio frequencies, but those same frequencies just don’t work underwater. Acoustic signals are good because they are stronger underwater and can reach long ranges (around one kilometre per pair of devices),” explained Nordlie.

Learn more about offshore energy

“We have international patents on underwater mesh networking which means that we do not simply transmit data between a transmitter and a receiver, but we can also route information through intermediate nodes acting as relays. We dynamically change the way we route to improve performance and reliability. In this way, our wireless networks work reliably, even when there is external noise, obstacles, ships, or even hundreds of thousands of fish between the transmitter and the receiver,” said Nordlie. 

Flexible and interoperable

WSENSE’s network of wireless underwater sensors offers as much reliability as a wired network and more.  

“The key word here is “flexibility”, in the sense that our networks allow you to place devices wherever you need them instead of wherever is most practical,” said Nordlie. 

Interoperability has been another key component of the organisation. Their focus has been to create networks that can integrate with other hardware and software solutions. This has been their recipe for creating “stable, reliable, high-quality data networks”. 

“For us, interoperability is a core functionality of our network. So, using other technologies and integrating them into our own is a very important, if not the most important part of our business,” said Nordlie. “For us, interoperability is a term that gives flexibility to the customer so that they can use the underwater networks that we provide in the best way”. 

Use in the Ocean Industries

“I believe “underwater insight” would be a good description of what we offer,” said Nordlie. 

WSENSE’s networks have proven to be useful in a variety of ocean industries, including aquaculture and underwater environment monitoring. Through their solutions, farmers and operators can not only make “better environmental decisions but also better projections”. 

“In the SEASTAR project with the Lerøy Seafood group, we have deployed systems providing continuous real-time monitoring of water quality parameters inside and outside the cages, data on the structural stress of the cages and so on,” said Nordlie. “We are now testing miniaturised monitoring devices that can measure and provide real-time data, such as a fish’s heart rate and activity parameters”. 

Learn more about seafood and aquaculture

WSENSE has also been cultivating partnerships with global stakeholders in the energy and defence sectors. They can provide a wireless infrastructure for future autonomous resident systems for offshore energy and subsea mining.

In addition, their “environmental and structural monitoring systems” can provide comprehensive harbour management for ports, lakes and waterways.

Moving forward

Through their adaptive, innovative underwater sensor networks, WSENSE’s ambitions are evident. They aim to provide organisations with the most accurate, up-to-date data on their underwater assets and environments. Through this, firms in the ocean industries can develop the most effective and sustainable strategies.

“It’s all about decision-making and providing the decision-makers with the big data needed to make the right decisions,” said Nordlie. 

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