What is the Bad Buoys project?

Bad Buoys is an open-source project creating low-cost, DIY, Raspberry Pi–powered maritime buoys. Designed for environmental and maritime monitoring, and swarm communication, these modular nodes bring modern tools to maritime security and research. Together we can create a maritime drone that is multi-purpose, inexpensive, and achievable for the novice technician or student.

Let's protect our waterways together!

Core Ideas

• Maritime monitoring and security – Buoys equipped with LoRa, cameras, and GPS can cross-check vessel AIS signals with real position data, flagging spoofed or ghost ships. Added Raspberry Pi sensors allow water treatment testing, audio/video, live sonar, and modular payloads (temperature, salinity, pH, pollution detectors).
• Drift Tracking – Each buoy logs GPS data, allowing researchers or security teams to model ocean currents, vessel drift, or floating debris in real time.
• Raspberry Pi modular payloads – Raspberry Pi boards allow everything from sonar, Wi-Fi monitoring, and audio/video. Bad Buoys brings these capabilities to the water, communicative and meshed, for applications ranging from environmental monitoring to reconnaissance and policing.
• Swarm Mesh Networking – Buoys communicate with each other via LoRa, forming a self-healing mesh network that relays data back to shore even if one node fails.

Wiring Diagram

ASCII Wiring Diagram

       ┌──────────────────┐
       │ Raspberry Pi Zero│
       │   2 W (40-pin)   │
       └─────────┬────────┘
                 │
     ┌───────────┼────────────┐
     │                        │
┌────▼────┐              ┌────▼────┐
│  LoRa   │              │  GPS    │
│ RFM95W  │              │ Module  │
└────┬────┘              └────┬────┘
     │                        │
     │                        │
 ┌───▼────────────┐       ┌───▼────────────┐
 │ Connections    │       │ Connections    │
 │ • VIN → Pin 17 │       │ • VCC → Pin 2  │
 │ • GND → Pin 14 │       │ • GND → Pin 6  │
 │ • SCK → Pin 23 │       │ • TX → Pin 10  │
 │ • MISO→ Pin 21 │       │ • RX → Pin 8   │
 │ • MOSI→ Pin 19 │       └────────────────┘
 │ • NSS → Pin 24 │
 │ • RST → Pin 36 │
 │ • DIO0→ Pin 37 │
 └────────────────┘
    

Project Status

This project is still in progress and will be updated regularly as more achievements are made.

Project Roadmap

• GitHub repo + Pages live
• LoRa wired & tested
• GPS wired & tested
• Wiring diagrams created
• 3 Pi Zero 2 W units prepped
• Prototype hull & bench wiring PoC
• Pontoon addition
• Solar charging integration
• Camera module integration
• First waterproof buoy deployment
• Multi-buoy swarm communication test
• Drift-tracking validation
• Mesh networking
• Demo video + write-up
• Wireless pier charging
• Swarm self-healing logic
• Modular payload bay
• Student DIY build guide
• Open-source contribution guide

Files

Clone the repo and start building:

• Hardware Diagrams
• Scripts and files
• Documentation

LinkedIn Other Projects

Open Source • MIT License