STEAM / Design Technology · Grade 8-10

Student-Built Environmental Monitoring Vessel

A student-built sensor platform for collecting water-quality data from a local canal, combining microcontrollers, waterproofing, power management, environmental science, and design iteration.

8-10 weeks Field trials ESP32sensorsCADwaterproofingdata logging

Learning Goals

Students learn to connect environmental questions to measurable data, then design a platform that can carry sensors safely and reliably. The project makes engineering constraints visible: buoyancy, waterproofing, battery life, sensor calibration, signal noise, and responsible data interpretation.

Technical Stack

The prototype uses an ESP32-class microcontroller, water-quality or environmental sensors, a battery pack, a waterproof enclosure, and a simple data logging workflow. The final stack can be adjusted according to school budget and local sourcing.

Hull Assembly

The hull is deliberately buildable with local hardware-store sourcing: PVC drain pipe, couplings, and end caps for the pontoons; a composite deck plate on threaded standoffs; stainless hose clamps for every mount. Nothing on this vessel requires a specialist supplier — which is the point, because students built it.

PVC pipe couplings and end caps as delivered in their shipping box — Sourcing — PVC couplings and caps, hardware-store grade FIG 05

Deck plate with junction box mounted across the two PVC pontoons, viewed from above — Deck plate on standoffs across the pontoons FIG 06

Two green ducted thrusters clamped beneath the pontoon sterns — Ducted thrusters clamped beneath the sterns FIG 07

Thruster leads with bullet connectors passing through the cable glands of the enclosure — Thruster leads through the cable glands FIG 08

Hand holding the twin ESC and XT60 power harness above the open junction box — Twin ESCs joined to the XT60 power harness FIG 09

Top view of the vessel with the wired electronics bay open and the sealed science enclosure mounted beside it — Both enclosures mounted — electronics bay open FIG 10

Sea Trials

The vessel has been on the water. First float tests on a local canal checked buoyancy, trim, thruster response, and waterproofing — on a tether, the way every sensible sea trial starts.

The twin-pontoon vessel floating on a canal at dusk with its tether line visible — First float — on the canal at dusk FIG 11

Close pass — thrusters and trim check VID 01

Daylight cruise along the canal VID 02

Dusk launch from the bank VID 03

The Science Station

The working sensor-and-pump system that goes inside the vessel’s payload enclosure. A 12V battery feeds two branches: pump power switched by a MOSFET module under ESP32 control, and a buck-converted 5V supply for the ESP32 itself, which in turn provides 3.3V to the temperature and conductivity sensors. Click any component or net in the schematic to trace the wiring.

Science station · wiring schematic

Nanyao water sensor + pump test system

Click any component or net to trace the wiring. Two branches leave the battery: 12V through the MOSFET to the pump, and 12V through the buck converter down to 5V for the ESP32, which provides 3.3V to the sensors. The turbidity sensor is omitted — that board burned out during testing and a replacement is planned.

An earlier turbidity sensor board burned out during bench testing and is deliberately absent from the current wiring — a useful lesson in fault isolation that students documented before planning its replacement.

Bench Log

The schematic above is real wiring, not a paper exercise. These photos are from bench testing of the science station before it goes into the vessel’s sealed enclosure.

Full bench layout of the science station: ESP32-S3 on a screw-terminal carrier, breadboard, EC sensor board, WAGO connectors, inline fuse holder, main switch, peristaltic pump, and the ABS enclosure — Full power chain laid out on the bench FIG 01

Peristaltic pump wired through the MOSFET switch module, with the LM2596 buck converter beside it — Pump branch — MOSFET switch and buck converter FIG 02

ESP32-S3 on a green screw-terminal breakout board, connected by breadboard to the DFRobot EC conductivity board with its BNC probe connector — ESP32-S3 and EC board on the test breadboard FIG 03

Waterproof DS18B20 temperature probe and the EC conductivity probe wired to the breadboard for calibration — DS18B20 and EC probes ready for calibration FIG 04

Student Task

Design, build, test, and document a small monitoring vessel that can collect environmental readings from a local waterway. Students must justify their design decisions, present test data, and revise the prototype after field trials.

Assessment Method

Assessment combines engineering notebook evidence, working prototype performance, code quality, data interpretation, and a final technical explanation. A successful submission does not need to be perfect; it must show disciplined testing and intelligent revision.

Reflection

This project is strongest when students encounter real constraints early. Waterproofing, unstable readings, and mechanical balance create better learning than a purely decorative prototype.