SEALAB

CLOSURE OF THE SEALAB PROJECT

During the first quarter of 2021, the financial and technical justification of the SEALAB Project “Improvement of priority substance analysis services in inland waters through the development and integration of nanosensors, robotics and information management systems” was closed, which has made it possible to take stock of the achievements made over these years.

This project began in 2018 and its objective was to develop a new water quality monitoring service (SEALAB) based on the development and integration of a portable laboratory on board an easily deployable unmanned vessel , for which propulsion, positioning, communication and navigation systems have been developed and improved. The laboratory incorporates new sensors based on the use of Key Enabling Technologies (KETs) -Lab-on-a-chip nanotechnology- for the determination of certain priority substances (Atrazine, Diuron, Terbutryn, Benzo(a)pyrene), as well as the measurement of auxiliary physico-chemical parameters and automated sampling. In addition, the information collected is sent in real time to an information management platform that makes the service easier for the end user to use.

The companies making up this consortium are INDROPS Laboratorio de Análisis y Calidad Medioambiental S.L, which is also the project leader, IMATIA INNOVATION, S.L. and INDUSTRIAS FERRI S.A., with the scientific and technical support of the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL) and the Centro Tecnológico del Mar (CETMAR). The Axencia Galega de Innovación GAIN (Galician Innovation Agency), which reports to the Consellería de Economía, Emprego e Industria (Regional Ministry of Economy, Employment and Industry), has funded this initiative through the management of European Union FEDER Funds within the CONECTA-PEME 2018 call.

Despite all the setbacks that the coronavirus pandemic may have caused, the SEALAB project has been an important step forward. After several months validating and verifying the various systems integrated into the prototype at CETMAR’s facilities, the vessel was launched on 23 November 2020. In addition to the Second Vice-President of the Xunta de Galicia and Conselleiro de Economía, Emprego e Industria (Regional Minister of Economy, Employment and Industry), Mr Francisco Conde, and the delegate of the Xunta in Vigo, Ms Marta Fernández-Tapias, the launch was attended by representatives of the Escuela Naval de Marín (Marín Naval School), the Centro Universitario de Defensa de Marín (Marín University Defence Centre), ASIME (Asociación de industrias del metal y Tecnologías asociadas de Galicia, the Galician association of metal industries and associated technologies) and the AIMEN Technology Centre (#SEALAB).

The consortium can state that both the general objective and the technical objectives proposed in this project have been achieved. All these achievements are having an effect, both on the particular know-how of each of the participants, which can be applied to other business lines, and on continuing the work begun in this project , given the interest it has aroused among end users of the services, such as port authorities.

On 16 December 2020, the SEALAB FINAL DISSEMINATION EVENT was held, at which the SEALAB project presented the results achieved through presentations by various project participants and received feedback from potential end users who took part in the round table or as invited guests, confirming the potential that developments such as the one carried out in this initiative have for monitoring and controlling the environment and the quality of its waters.

In summary, all these points make the development of the SEALAB service particularly relevant in sectors such as integrated Water Cycle management; the industrial sector; City Councils; Port Authorities; the Consellería de Medioambiente e Ordenación do Territorio, Aguas de Galicia, the Confederación Hidrográfica Miño Sil, other River Basin Authorities and environmental management bodies of other Autonomous Communities; the Consellería do Mar, INTECMAR and marine resource management bodies of other Autonomous Communities; the Coastguard and Maritime Rescue Service; MAGRAMA, etc.

The SEALAB project (file no. IN852A 2018/5) is co-funded by GAIN (Axencia Galega de Innovación. Consellería de economía, emprego e industria. Xunta de Galicia) and the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER), through the CONECTA PEME 2018 call

Improvement of priority substance analysis services in inland waters through the development and integration of nanosensors, robotics and information management systems

(IN852A 2018/5)

Programme: Conecta Peme 2018. Grants for carrying out R&D&I projects in collaboration between companies in strategic areas for Galicia.

Total Budget: €1,056,297.97

Lead Company: INDROPS LABORATORIO DE ANÁLISIS Y CALIDAD MEDIOAMBIENTAL S.L.

Partner companies: INDUSTRIAS FERRI S.A.

IMATIA INNOVATION S.L.

**Funded **by the Axencia Galega de Innovación (GAIN) of the Xunta de Galicia, the Consellería de Economía, Emprego e Industria of the Xunta de Galicia, and the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER), under the FEDER 2014-2020 operational programme, within the main objective of the operation “Promoting technological development, innovation and high-quality research” (T.O.1), with European Structural and Investment Funds.

Start date: 1 April 2018

End date: 30 September 2020

**Project objectives: **The objective of the project is to develop a new water quality monitoring service (SEALAB) based on the development and integration of a portable laboratory on board an easily deployable unmanned surface vehicle. The laboratory will incorporate new sensors based on the use of Key Enabling Technologies (Lab-on-a-chip) for the determination of priority substances, the measurement of auxiliary physico-chemical parameters and automated sampling.

To achieve this general objective, the following technical objectives are proposed:

• O1 .Advancing *in-situ *monitoring procedures for priority substances through the implementation of a nanosensor to measure, by electrochemical reading, concentrations of certain priority substances in inland waters

• Developing a portable laboratory that integrates a multisensor system for *in situ *measurements of priority substances and other physico-chemical parameters, as well as a water sampling system to be integrated into unmanned vessels (USV).

• Optimizing the use of unmanned vessels (USV) for monitoring the quality of coastal and transitional waters, improving propulsion, positioning, communications and navigation to meet the specific needs of the service and ensure the representativeness of the samples.

• Making the service easier for the end user to use through the implementation of software applications that facilitate the management of robotic missions and the visualization and interpretation of the data collected.

25 September 2019

The partners in the Sealab project continue to develop a prototype of an innovative system to improve water quality control, as was presented at a dissemination day held in Vigo on 18 February 2019. The Sealab project is led by the Galician company Indrops Laboratorio, together with Industrias Ferri and Imatia Innovation, and with the participation of INL and Cetmar’s Marine Technologies Unit. It is an initiative funded by the Consellería de Economía, Emprego e Industria through the Axencia Galega de Innovación (GAIN) under the Conecta Peme 2018 programme. The research stems from the general objective of improving the analysis service for so-called priority substances -classified as such by the European Union because they pose a risk to the environment and human health- in inland waters, and the Sealab project partners are already making progress in the development, on the one hand, of a laboratory with an innovative sampling and sample management system that incorporates nanosensors for four of these substances, in addition to measuring other auxiliary parameters (oxygen, temperature, conductivity or turbidity). This portable priority substances laboratory, designed by the company Indrops Laboratorio together with INL (International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory), will be incorporated into a lightweight, easily deployable unmanned marine vehicle on which the company Industrias Ferri is working with the collaboration of Cetmar’s Marine Technologies Unit. The vessel will have a dual propulsion system, with an outboard motor for transfer to the sampling point and electric motors, to be developed by Cetmar, that reduce the risk of contamination during manoeuvres in the control area.

The operating system for all the elements integrated into the vessel, as well as the communications and teleoperation, is being developed by the company Imatia Innovation, which is also responsible for designing a platform that will manage all the information relating to both the water samples and the navigation, sending it in real time to the base, which will be able to act early according to the data transmitted on the presence of priority substances or other parameters.

Once all this work has been completed, its operation will be validated under real conditions. According to the timescales being considered by those responsible for the Sealab project, which began in 2018, the tests to check the operation of the portable laboratory will be carried out under real conditions at sea in summer 2020, in time for a new dissemination day that will showcase the operation of the device.