Within the last few years the number and types of in situ sensors and underwater vehicles increased considerably. ROV´s, AUV´s or wAUV´s are equipped with seismo acoustic as well as chemical sensors, high definition camera or video systems and sampling devices. The installation of seafloor observatories, an objective of national and international research initiatives such as the ORION, MARS or ESONET project, will be equipped with various sensor systems linked by under water cables.

Until now, most sensors and samplers applied in marine and environmental research have been designed to operate by its own. They are programmed for data acquisition and storage. Data transfer and communication is mainly limited to the upload of data to a PC onboard ship.

To combine different sensors into a sensor network, allowing interaction of sensors and actuators and different sensor networks, is a complex process requiring highly skilled personnel. Even replacing a sensor or adding a new sensor into a sensor group is often rather laborious.

New concepts based on Java open source software projects such as JDDAC (Java Distributed Data Acquisition and Control), embedded JAVA micro-controller, as well as SensorML (ISO 19130) support the development of new “Smart Sensors” and Sensor Networks”.