Development of a Low-Cost Coastal Cabled Underwater Camera Observatory as Part of ANERIS Project: Preliminary Design and Results

This paper presents the process of building a low-cost, cabled underwater camera observatory with applications in coastal areas. This includes an underwater camera, and external sensor interface, external LED light controller, and an anti-biofouling wiper mechanism connected by a cable to a central hub stationed on land which makes all relevant data openly accessible via internet. The proposed setup allows for seamless integration of additional external sensors, thanks to its open-source nature. The low-cost underwater observatory is intended to be a proof-of-concept of an affordable, open-source, and easily reproducible system that has as few tool requirements as possible, and is part of a larger ANERIS research project which aims at developing innovative technologies towards operational marine biology. This hopes to ensure that the majority of interested parties are capable of building a similar system without needing to invest sizable capital in custom part orders and/or tools. The design includes mostly commercial off the shelf components and an anti-biofouling mechanism based on a magnetically coupled wiper. Experimental results from a one week deployment in Oslofjord are presented.