Oystamaran: An Implementation of Autonomy in Surface Vehicles for Oyster Farming

Abstract

With the evergrowing field and demand of aquafarming, many farms must find ways to optimize their processes. For Ward Aquafarms down in Cape Cod, one particular bottleneck is the flipping of oyster bags. The workers must regularly flip the bags filled with oysters and other products in order to encourage the flow of oxygen. With hundreds of bags, this is a strenuous and time-consuming process that is currently done by hand. In this thesis, we present a design and approach of the software and hardware design components to reaching a robust and cost-effective, automated solution via surface vehicle. This system is currently being designed and implemented for testing in cooperation with Ward Aquafarms and MIT SeaGrant.