{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,27]],"date-time":"2026-02-27T08:55:44Z","timestamp":1772182544794,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"20","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,10,18]],"date-time":"2021-10-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1634515200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program","award":["101032024"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["101032024"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Stepped fishways are structures that allow the free movement of fish in transversal obstacles in rivers. However, the lack of or incorrect maintenance may deviate them from this objective. To handle this problem, this research work presents a novel low-cost sensor network that combines fishway hydraulics with neural networks programmed in Python (Keras + TensorFlow), generating the first autonomous obstruction\/malfunction detection system for stepped fishways. The system is based on a network of custom-made ultrasonic water level nodes that transmit data and alarms remotely and in real-time. Its performance was assessed in a field study case as well as offline, considering the influence of the number of sensing nodes and obstruction dimensions. Results show that the proposed system can detect malfunctions and that allows monitoring of the hydraulic performance of the fishway. Consequently, it optimizes the timing of maintenance on fishways and, thus, has the potential of automatizing and reducing the cost of these operations as well as augmenting the service of these structures. Therefore, this novel tool is a step forward to achieve smart fishway management and to increase their operability.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s21206909","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,10,20]],"date-time":"2021-10-20T21:31:26Z","timestamp":1634765486000},"page":"6909","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":12,"title":["A Step to Smart Fishways: An Autonomous Obstruction Detection System Using Hydraulic Modeling and Sensor Networks"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2384-9085","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Juan Francisco","family":"Fuentes-P\u00e9rez","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Hydraulics and Hydrology, ETSIIAA, University of Valladolid, 34004 Palencia, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3765-9007","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ana","family":"Garc\u00eda-Vega","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centro Tecnol\u00f3gico Agrario y Agroalimentario Itagra.ct, 34004 Palencia, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3687-9902","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francisco Javier","family":"Bravo-C\u00f3rdoba","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centro Tecnol\u00f3gico Agrario y Agroalimentario Itagra.ct, 34004 Palencia, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4566-9499","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francisco Javier","family":"Sanz-Ronda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Hydraulics and Hydrology, ETSIIAA, University of Valladolid, 34004 Palencia, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,10,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"23","article-title":"Villemonte\u2019s approach: Validation of a general method for modeling uniform and non-uniform performance in stepped fishways","volume":"418","year":"2017","journal-title":"Knowl. 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