Ocean Conservation & Tidalpunk

Researchers have prototyped sensor-packed robot bugs that mimic biological digestive systems to meet energy needs, employ a Janus interface for a steady supply of nutrients and move on the water's surface like a water strider.

Called the Ocean of Things – and similar in essence to the multitude of sensor-packed smart devices that collect info across the Internet of Things – the project page states that sensor data would be uploaded to government-owned cloud storage for analysis, and that the OoT would support military missions while also being open to research bodies and commercial concerns.

The paper