cs.ROOct 5, 2026

AeroBuoy: A Drone Deployable, 3D Printed, Autonomous Robotic Buoy for Environmental Inspection in Remote and Hazardous River Systems

Authors: Reuben O'Brien, Angus Lynch, Minas Liarokapis

Organizations: New Dexterity Research Group, Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, The University of Auckland, New Zealand

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Abstract

Monitoring of waterways such as remote and hazardous rivers and streams is important so as to assess the impact of external factors including construction runoff or climate change. Versatile, autonomous robotic boats can offer excellent environmental inspection and monitoring solutions for remote, dangerous, or access protected water bodies but they have several shortcomings in terms of maneuverability. This paper proposes an environmental inspection system consisting of an autonomous data collection buoy which is designed to be deployed to inaccessible river systems using a drone. The system can perform a drop off and pickup of the buoy depending on the requirements of a particular location and monitoring task. Utilising the natural flow of the river the buoy autonomously steers down, using GPS and magnetometers so as to maintain the desired trajectory. The buoy is capable of measuring water temperature but it can also be equipped with a range of sensors such as water oxygen meter, sonar for river bed inspection, or turbidity for water clarity. This paper describes the system design, presents an analysis of the self-righting capabilities of the buoy, and shows a full system demonstration at the Ōrewa River in Auckland, New Zealand.

Figures & tables

Figure 1: The proposed autonomous, 3D printed, robotic buoy ‘AeroBuoy’ and the quadrotor drone that has been designed for the AeroBuoy deployment and collection in river systems.
Figure 2: Exploded view of AeroBuoy, the proposed drone deployable, autonomous robotic buoy, showing all components used to implement it, as well as the overall design with the drone connected to the buoy via it’s tether and claw.
Figure 3: The AeroBuoy is made up of a 200 mm tall and wide hull (400 mm tall including peripherals). From the baseline the waterline is located 105 mm in the Z direction. Center of gravity and buoyancy have been designed to be located at the same position in all axes at 64 mm above the baseline. This provides the highest level of stability and control.
Figure 4: Righting arm of the buoy hull ranging from 0 degrees (upright) to 180 degrees (fully inverted). This highlights that regardless of the angle of the buoy in the water, there will always be a moment applied to rotate it back to level.
Figure 5: Actuation strategy of the cable driven claw mechanism used to pickup and drop off the AeroBuoy.
Figure 6: GPS tracking & timeline images of the autonomous AeroBuoy deployment and retrieval throughout an experiment at the Ōrewa River in Auckland, New Zealand (36°35’45.7"S, 174°40’40.8"E). The buoy is picked up from the land by the drone (in A), traverses over inaccessible terrain (in B), and is deployed into the water (in C). The buoy conducts its autonomous data collection mission (in D), until it reaches the end where it autonomously loiters, and is collected again by the drone (in E). The drone carries it out of the water (in F) and returns the buoy to land for the data to be retrieved (in G).
Figure 7: Loitering at a set pickup location for the drone under a ~0.5 m/s river flow. It was able to stay within 0.5 m perpendicular to the flow and 2 m parallel, with external disturbances from the drone. This was conducted over a 7.5 min sequence.
Figure 8: A demonstration of the capabilities of the proposed drone deployable, 3D printed, autonomous robotic buoy ‘AeroBuoy’ at Oakley Creek (left) & Newmarket Park Pond (right) in Auckland, New Zealand.

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