Blue OpenLab PIM: Contributing to the Development of Open-Source Oceanographic Instrumentation for the Research of Tomorrow

Oceanographic instruments can be developed in a cost-effective and open-source manner, and deployed by citizens as part of participatory science programmes. Over the course of one week, from 23 to 27 June 2025, this PIM brought together all stakeholders to collectively design, prototype, document, and test these instruments at sea.

After an introduction to the key principles of open-source oceanography, participatory science, and the maker culture, as well as a short “datalogger” training session, students worked in small groups throughout the week to develop four projects:

• Integrating new functionalities into the current KOSMOS camera, in collaboration with Ifremer and Konk Ar Lab
• Adapting the deployment of an underwater observatory for sailing vessels as part of the LittObs programme, with the association Astrolabe Expeditions
• Comparing two different flowmeter models for the Objectif Plancton programme, with the Concarneau Marine Station (MNHN) and Océanopolis
• Designing a data logger to study cliffs frequented by black-legged kittiwakes as part of the SEDERISSA monitoring project, with LEMAR (UBO/IUEM)

At the end of this PIM, students gained an in-depth understanding of participatory science and low-tech oceanographic instrumentation projects. They also discovered the maker culture within a fablab environment and the different stages of an open-source approach: develop, prototype, test, iterate, document.

Watch the video recap of the PIM here:

Speakers and contributors:

• Peggy Rimmelin-Maury – presentation of the OSU-IUEM observation service
• Olivier Fauvarque, KOSMOS
• Tanguy Cebron de Lisle, PlanktoScope

Supervisors:

• Maud Tournery, fablab IMT Atlantique
• Jonathan Flye-Sainte-Marie, LEMAR/UBO
• Jody Grollier, Astrolabe Expeditions
• Cédric Courson, Astrolabe Expéditions