This joint project with Prof. Nico Declercq aims at developing a smart embeddable sensor for the detection of defects (mainly corrosion and cracks) in metal-plate structures using guided waves, opto-acoustics and machine learning. By the end of the project, the resulting system will be expected to be integrated onto a mobile tetherless robotic system, hence allowing structural inspection of ship hulls and storage tanks with unprecedented resolution. To this day, the individual technologies have been demonstrated on large-scale systems that cannot be deployed on an autonomous mobile system because of both their weight, volume and energy requirements, and the complexity of the signal interpretation. Bringing them together into a small-sized tetherless smart system is precisely the purpose of this research. This raises significant challenges requiring an integrated view of multiple fields of research.