What is Smart India Hackathon (SIH) 2026?

Smart India Hackathon (SIH) is the world’s biggest open innovation hackathon organized by the Ministry of Education, AICTE, and MIC, where student teams build hardware and software solutions for problem statements submitted by Government Ministries, Departments, and State Agencies.

How many problem statements are released in SIH 2026?

SIH 2026 features 226 official problem statements, comprising 172 Software category statements and 54 Hardware category statements across themes like Smart Automation, Agriculture, Disaster Management, MedTech, Clean Water, and Cybersecurity.

How does the SIH ONE AI Team Matchmaker work?

The SIH ONE Matchmaker takes your 6-member team’s frontend/backend/AI skills, hardware experience, domain preferences, and exclusions, then runs a multi-factor weighted scoring algorithm to rank the top 25 highest-fit problem statements.

How do you prevent conductive saline seawater from drowning out the electromagnetic signal of buried seabed metals?

We use Time-Domain Electromagnetic (TDEM) time-gating: seawater eddy currents decay rapidly within the first 50 microseconds after pulse shutoff, so we sample the late-time decay window (100μs - 5ms) where only high-conductivity metallic nodules emit persistent signals.

How does the sensor withstand the crushing hydrostatic pressure of 6,000 meters ocean depth?

The sensor coils are potted in solid pressure-balanced dielectric polyurethane resin, eliminating internal air cavities and allowing the sensor to operate at over 600 bar without heavy metal pressure housings.

How does the inversion algorithm estimate the depth of a buried metallic deposit?

By analyzing the multicoil spatial gradient and the decay slope of the secondary magnetic field (dB/dt), the inversion solver computes the 3D dipole location and burial depth up to 1.5 meters beneath the seabed sediment.

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PS 26064HARDWARESmart Resource ConservationHeavy R&D

Low-Cost Deployable Seafloor Metal Detection Sensor for Ocean Resource Exploration

Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES)• National Centre for Polar andOcean Research (NCPOR)

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30-Second Plain English Summary

Deep seafloor exploration in the Indian Ocean for Polymetallic Nodules and seafloor massive sulfides (copper, nickel, cobalt, manganese) is hindered by heavy, expensive commercial survey systems. Build a low-cost, lightweight deployable seafloor metal detection sensor and digital signal processing system for National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) that utilizes pulsed eddy-current electromagnetic induction (EMI) to identify and classify buried metal ore deposits on the ocean floor.

5-Dimension Strategic ScorecardOverall Score: 3.8 / 5.0

Innovation

3.7 / 5

36h Feasibility

4 / 5

Uniqueness

3.5 / 5

Jury Appeal

3.8 / 5

Tech Depth

3.8 / 5

Recommended System Architecture Pipeline

Seafloor EMI Sensor Coils -> Microsecond TDEM Pulse Receiver -> Time-Gated Seawater Decoupling DSP -> Mineral Inversion AI -> NIOT Seafloor Resource Console

Hardware Bill of Materials (BOM) & Cost BreakdownEstimated component unit economics in Indian Rupee (INR)

Prototype Unit Cost:₹14,450

Component	Specification	Qty	Est. Cost
Pulse Induction (PI) Search Coil & Ferrite Core Assembly	Encapsulated waterproof coil tuned for detecting conductive seafloor polymetallic nodules	1	₹4,200
High-Current MOSFET Fast-Flyback Pulse Driver Circuit	Generates 100A microsecond electromagnetic pulses for deep eddy-current excitation	1	₹1,850
Ultra-Low-Noise Differential Instrumentation Amplifier (INA128)	Sub-microvolt decay signal detection bypassing conductive seawater mineralization	2	₹1,400
STM32 High-Speed Data Acquisition & Telemetry Core	Synchronous sampling digitizer with RS485 / Ethernet underwater tether transmission	1	₹1,200
Sealed Marine Grade Stainless Steel (100m) Tow Fish Body	Hydrodynamic tow body with directional stabilizing fins for seabed exploration	1	₹5,800

Power Input: 12V DC Tethered / Internal 18650 Battery Pack

Form Factor: Towed Torpedo Body / ROV Skid-Mounted Capsule

Architecture & Prototyping Strategy: Two-tier presentation strategy: (1) Hackathon Tabletop MVP (~₹2.5k–₹4k) with handmade pulse induction coil + Arduino + IRF540N MOSFET tested in saline water tank; (2) Deep Seafloor Tow Fish (~₹14.45k) with calibrated PI search coil, INA128 pre-amp, and 100m pressure-rated stainless tow capsule.

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Official Government Problem Description

Design and develop a low-cost deployable ocean-bottom sensor that can be released from a research vessel during surveys to detect and map metal-rich seabed deposits, including polymetallic nodules, hydrothermal sulphides, cobalt-rich crusts and rare-earth-element-bearing sediments, providing a rapid and cost-effective tool for deep-ocean mineral exploration.

AI & PPT Citation Format

Smart India Hackathon 2026 Problem Statement PS-26064: "Low-Cost Deployable Seafloor Metal Detection Sensor for Ocean Resource Exploration", Ministry: Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES). Strategy & Architecture via SIH ONE (https://sihone.pages.dev/ps/26064)

Low-Cost Deployable Seafloor Metal Detection Sensor for Ocean Resource Exploration

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