Collecting water samples from various bodies of water is an essential part of monitoring water quality and protecting ecosystems. The U.S. Geological Survey and state environmental agencies depend on this information to track pollution, study environment changes and identify potential threats to public health. But manually collecting these samples can be time-consuming, expensive and physically demanding.

That challenge drew South Carolina Honors College rising junior Sofiane Lachab to a research project focused on an autonomous water-sampling drone.

Lachab, a computer engineering major, is developing a custom flight controller that would allow a drone to navigate to specific locations, collect water samples and return automatically. His research is supported by the University of South Carolina’s Magellan Scholar Grant, which provides undergraduate students with professional research experience and faculty mentorship.

“The goal of the project is to develop a custom autonomous flight controller that is effective at directing the drone to collect samples of water by selecting points on a map as the targeted sites,” Lachab says.

Over the past academic year, Lachab worked in the lab of Mechanical Engineering Professor Nikolaos Vitzilaios, who serves as his faculty mentor. Early work focused on building the drone’s physical systems, including designing the mountings and circuitry used for specific actions. The drone can currently carry up to seven 250 milliliter sample bottles. Instead of using multiple pumps, the system relies on a single diaphragm (membrane) pump connected to an electric rotary valve that directs water into each bottle during sampling.

Now with the support of the Magellan Scholar Grant, Lachab is focused on the next stage of the project: making the drone autonomous. He is developing software that will allow users to select sampling locations on a map while the drone handles navigation, collection and returning on its own.

“Having a drone do the sampling is more efficient because it can travel to several locations and collect samples in less than an hour,” Lachab says. “We’ll use Robot Operating System to organize our flight and sampling programming into a single framework, allowing us to interface with the drone’s controllers and ensuring it goes from point to point autonomously.”

The project is also connected with other work in Vitzilaios’s lab that attaches a fluorometer to the drone. The device measures levels of chlorophyll in the water to indicate the potential for microorganisms, such as bacteria and algae. The fluorometer can help identify areas with higher concentrations of microorganisms, allowing the drone to target those locations for additional sampling.

“I'll program the drone to fly out to those specific points, lower itself closer to the water, collect the sample, come back up, and head to other points,” Lachab says. “It will also include fail-safe measures to ensure it doesn't go too low into the water or hit any obstacles.”

According to Vitzilaios, he is most impressed with Lachab’s maturity, independence and persistence.

“He has a strong ability to combine a deep understanding of fundamental concepts with hands-on research, allowing him to tackle complex challenges in a thoughtful and practical way,” Vitzilaios says. “Even when faced with significant obstacles, he consistently demonstrates initiative and problem-solving skills, often overcoming difficulties with minimal supervision while maintaining a clear focus on achieving his research goals.”

For Lachab, the project is also an opportunity to expand his experience in robotics and autonomous systems research.

“I want to do more novel problems that haven't been tackled before,” Lachab says. “With this phase of the project, I'll be more involved in the actual software and coding at a deeper level, especially autonomous flight, path planning and optimization.”