Optical Modem for Ultrafast Underwater Communications

(EPFL, September 22, 2020)

EPFL spin-off Hydromea SA recently developed a miniature optical modem called LUMA that allows for ultrafast underwater communications through a rapidly blinking blue light. According to Felix Schill, the company’s CTO, blue light was chosen because “even though water is generally opaque for electromagnetic waves, there is a small transparency band for blue and green light,” which enables their system to “send and receive data over long distances" (over 50 meters). LUMA is designed to work at depths of up to 6,000 meters and has already been tested at 4,280 meters below sea level in the Pacific Ocean. The spin-off continues to collaborate with EPFL, and is currently helping to develop robotics and communications systems for LéXPLORE, a research platform located just off the shores of Lake Geneva.