Uniting engineers and biologists for the protection of the sea

Engineers from the PANACEA project will closely collaborate with the biologists of the AquaPLAN project to research the best conservation strategy for Posidonia seagrass meadows, through the integration of their data on light and noise pollution and on the biodiversity of related species in this unique habitat. Both projects are coordinated by the University of Pisa, with Riccardo Costanzi from Department of Information Engineering as PANACEA coordinator and Elena Maggi from Department of Biology as AquaPLAN coordinator.

The aim of PANACEA is to develop a multi-robot system, composed of an underwater robot and a surface robot, capable of interacting with operators safely on land, who receive data in real time. PANACEA held a workshop on 3 May 2024 in Pisa, involving the introduction of the project, the relevance of Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadows and the technological aspects for its marine environmental monitoring. From AquaPLAN, Elena and Francesca Rossi (Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (SZN)) were there to present AquaPLAN and how we are monitoring the impact of light and noise pollution on Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadows in the same habitat.

Other participants of the workshop included representatives from Universities of Florence, Genoa and Sassari as well as the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), Regional Agency for Environmental Protection Tuscany (ARPAT) and Agency for Environmental Protection Ligure (ARPAL).

Italian TGR TV news: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wey7rRrNZY4

Learn more https://www.dii.unipi.it/news/news/robot-subacquei-fianco-degli-operatori-umani-la-difesa-del-mare