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arXiv · 2601.05615

ORB: An Open Radio Buoy for Coastal Water Measurements

Lars Willas Dreyer·Andrea Pferscher·Riccardo Sieve·Jean Rabault·Atle Jensen·Einar Broch Johnsen·Gaute Hope
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Abstract

Oceanographic instrumentation technology is currently under rapid transition towards increasingly open-source technology. Open-source buoys compete with commercial and closed-source buoys both in price, functionality and availability. Long-range radio (LoRa) is a communication technology which is inexpensive both in terms of data transfer cost and power without the need for pre-existing infrastructure. In this paper, we present ORB, an open-source drifter buoy using LoRa for coastal water measurements. ORB is designed to be reliable, low-cost, modifiable and power efficient. We present validation experiments demonstrating that ORB can achieve a radio telemetry range of five kilometers, and has an expected battery lifetime of up to seven months, owing largely to a the radio telemetry which operates at the low power consumption of 7 mA. Finally, we discuss the role and contribution of ORB in the space of open-source instrumentation and ocean modeling.

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Lars Willas Dreyer, Andrea Pferscher, Riccardo Sieve, Jean Rabault, Atle Jensen, Einar Broch Johnsen, Gaute Hope. 2026-01-09. ORB: An Open Radio Buoy for Coastal Water Measurements. https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.05615

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