‘Smart pebbles’ will help track coastal erosion in Ireland

The smart pebbles project, part of the €10m European-wide project Score, funded by the European Commission, will see students release them into the vicinity and track their movements. Picture: Denis Minihane

We are all familiar with smartphones, watches, and fridges — now smart pebbles are a thing, as students embark on an experiment to examine the impacts of coastal erosion in Ireland.

Some 300 pebbles have been equipped with tags and readers as a number of schoolchildren assist scientists in tracking coastal erosion at Killiney Beach in Dublin and Raghly Beach in Sligo over the coming months.

The project is led by Chiara Cocco and Francesco Pilla, researchers with Lero, the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Software at University College Dublin, and Iulia Anton, a researcher at Atlantic Technological University, Sligo.

The smart pebbles project, part of the €10m European-wide project Score, funded by the European Commission, will see students release them into the vicinity and track their movements.

Dr Cocco said: "This project is really exciting because we are collaborating with people of all ages — primary school students, transition year students, and a local Tidy Towns group — and using innovative technologies to examine the impacts of climate change on their coastal communities. 

"The students will play a key role in releasing and monitoring 300 specially adapted Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) enabled pebbles over the coming months. 

"Each ‘smart’ pebble, painted yellow and typically about 10cm in size, has a RFID transponder cemented into drilled holes, enabling us to trace the impacts of erosion and their movements over the coming months."

RFID is a wireless system made up of tags and readers. The reader has antennas that emit radio waves and receive signals back from the tag. 

It is used in several commercial and industrial applications, from tracking items along a supply chain to keeping track of items checked out of a library, according to online financial information website, Investopedia.

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Project manager of the Score project Dr Anton, said: “Each pebble will be 3D-scanned by the ‘search and rescue’ students, enabling the tracking of abrasions and markings. Then, we will be able to track the pebble's movements using RFID readers and GPS locators. 

"These citizen science results will be analysed in the lab utilising algorithms to determine climate change impacts on coastal erosion on the beach.” 

Getting students involved is instrumental in its success, she said.

"Our collaboration with local schools, led by dedicated students, is pivotal in this activity. Their role in releasing and monitoring these pebbles, equipped with state-of-the-art technology, will provide invaluable insights into erosion patterns and movements. 

"This citizen science initiative not only fosters environmental stewardship but also empowers the younger generation to engage in climate resilience efforts actively."

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