2.4 GHz Wireless Data Acquisition System for FIToplankton ROV

Research activity in underwater wireless sensor and video transmission for marine and aquatic environment monitoring has increased rapidly. Data acquisition system is essential component for Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) especially for marine or other aquatic environment surveillance. ROV's data acquisition is typically transmitted using tether cable connected to ground control station. The use of tether may cause a problem since the cable can hinder the movement of ROV especially for shallow water area. A mobile ROV with wireless data acquisition solution play a key role in underwater environment monitoring. This paper presented an alternative method of data acquisition using 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi communication module on existing ROV platform of Telkom University - FIToplankton. This study aims to explore the possibility of Wi-Fi communication device as underwater IMU sensor's data and video transmission system. The prototype of the system has been implemented and evaluated to confirm the functionality of the proposed approach. The results indicate sensor and video data can still transmitted up to 20 cm water depth.