Low-Cost AUV Visual System for Marine Ecosystem Monitoring and Analysis

Marine protected areas (MPAs) play a vital role in safeguarding marine ecosystems and preserving their ecological and societal benefits. Japan, with its expansive marine territory, has designated a substantial area as MPAs. However, monitoring and analyzing these vast regions present challenges, necessitating significant resources and workforce. In recent years, the use of low-cost Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) has emerged as a promising approach for data collection in MPAs, especially when coupled with visual data collection. This study aims to develop a cost-efficient visual system to attach to a low-cost AUV, enabling effective data gathering and analysis for ecological and economic purposes. Algorithms that use monocular and stereo image inputs were used to generate data such as 3D mosaic of the seafloor and dimension estimation of marine animals. By utilizing easy-to-obtain hardware visual systems, this research contributes to enhancing the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of data collection and analysis of MPAs.