---
title: "Stations matter most when access is hardest"
url: https://mru.space/use-cases/volcano-seismic/
description: "Remote stations on solar power matter most when access is hardest. Mru Field keeps them recording as processors fail between visits."
---

[Mru](https://mru.space/) / [Mru Field](https://mru.space/field/) / [Use cases](https://mru.space/use-cases/) / Volcano and seismic stations

Research · Geophysics Exploring

# Volcano and seismic stations

Stations matter most when access is hardest.

![The volcanic cone of Mount Pico, Pico Island, Azores](https://mru.space/_astro/pl13-montanha-do-pico.D5kKQysH_ZKbMFt.jpg)

The volcanic cone of Mount Pico, Pico Island, Azores Samuel Monteiro Domingues · CC BY-SA 4.0

“Capability is a depleting resource to be spent, not a fixed budget to be defended.”

Whitepaper, §5

Seismic and volcano stations sit on remote slopes and islands, on solar power, often far from roads. Islands like the Azores, on the junction of three tectonic plates, depend on them.

Mru Field runs on the processors already in the equipment. When one fails and nobody can come, it continues on the ones left and delivers only results it can check. Status: decision core at TRL 3; first field pilot planned for 2027.

01

## Computers fail one by one

Radiation, heat and age take out processors and memory. Nothing is replaced until the next visit.

02

## Power runs down

Batteries fade and panels foul. The system has to do less, on purpose, and keep the important part going.

03

## The link is thin

Bytes per message, or nothing until the next window. Problems have to be solved on site.

## Three computers. Then two. Then one, still working.

Most redundant systems stop when they lose their majority. Mru Field steps down instead, and says which mode it is in.

3 alive · vote

A B C

Three computers vote. One bad result is outvoted.

2 alive · compare

A B C

Two compare. A known-answer test finds the faulty one.

1 alive · self-check

A B C

The last one checks its own work and keeps listening, at half speed.

Power

Solar and batteries

Link

Radio, cellular or satellite

Visits

Weeks to months

Service life

Years

## Questions

Does Mru Field need new hardware?

No. It is software for the processors you already deploy. It runs beside your control code and decides which computer to trust as parts fail.

Will it miss an event while it checks itself?

With two or more computers it runs at full speed. Only the last computer runs at half speed, and that beats stopping.

How do we start?

Use the form below. We first model your hardware and show what each redundancy design returns over its whole life. Then we plan a pilot on your own equipment.

## Related settings

[All use cases](https://mru.space/use-cases/)

[

Research · Polar

### Polar stations and sensor networks

](https://mru.space/use-cases/polar-stations/)[

Infrastructure · Satellite IoT

### Satellite-linked remote devices

](https://mru.space/use-cases/satellite-iot/)[

Infrastructure · Telecom

### Remote telecom sites

](https://mru.space/use-cases/remote-telecom/)