DISI students won the international space data challenge VeneToStars with team BlueCrabNet

Six UniTrento DISI students, together with their team BlueCrabNet, won the fourth edition of VeneToStars - the prestigious innovation challenge where 28 teams and 100 young talents from 9 countries competed to solve real-world problems using satellite data.

To address this year’s challenge, Where Space Meets Food, the team designed a predictive monitoring system for the blue crab infestation in the Venetian Lagoon. The system combines Copernicus satellite data with local fishermen's reports and a smart buoy network.
The idea is to equip the buoys with a new computer vision algorithm capable of estimating blue crab density and forecasting their movements. This system would alert local aquaculture farmers and fishermen seven days in advance, helping mitigate damage to aquaculture and promoting more sustainable fishing practices.

The technological core of the project is a React-based web app integrated with a sophisticated machine learning model.
The platform processes key environmental data for blue crab spread, such as water temperature, salinity, chlorophyll concentration, and other ecological indicators derived from public and satellite sources.
The machine learning model then generates an interactive map by combining these environmental metrics, reports from fishermen, and data collected by sensor-equipped buoys.
Finally, the project includes an SMS alert system that notifies farmers when their areas are at risk of a blue crab invasion and highlights locations for fishermen where crabs are most likely to be found -protecting targeted aquaculture farms while making fishing efforts more efficient.

The members of BlueCrabNet team are six students from various DISI degree programs: Ludovico Cappellato and Fabio Missagia (Master's in Computer Science), Alessandro Sartore (Master's in Artificial Intelligence Systems), Sara Cerlenco (Bachelor's in Computer Science), Stefania La Rosa (recent Computer Science graduate), and Luca Tecchio (software engineer at Wurth Italia and DISI alumnus); alongside them is Andrea Dragonetti (Master's in Statistics at the University of Padua).

BlueCrabNet's journey saw the team pass the initial selection rounds, secure one of the three finalist spots at the Space Meetings Veneto 2026 in May to present their idea, and ultimately claim victory after an intense week of development and acceleration at the H-FARM campus.

Huge congratulations!

"As often happens," says Ludovico, "it was an initiative we initially joined without high expectations, but we got more and more invested as development progressed. We particularly appreciated the opportunity to meet many other international students from all over the world along the way - especially during the final phase, where we qualified as the only Italian team. It was a very enriching experience, and it doesn't end here: we are continuing to work on the project with the goal of bringing it to market and helping local authorities and fishermen tackle the issue!"

"Thanks to initiatives like this," adds Fabio, "students like us get the chance to gain experiences that would be hard to pull off on our own: pitching an idea and getting direct feedback from investors, networking with people from completely different backgrounds, and often getting free access to conferences that would otherwise cost hundreds or thousands of euros. An unforgettable experience? Definitely going out on the boat with the fishermen to see firsthand how the blue crab moves".
 

Find out the team degree programs 

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