Field Validation of Novel Low-Cost Underwater Robot for Deepwater Exploration and Characterization

To prepare for their fieldwork, the team improved the computing capabilities and optical sensors and replaced the thrusters of the original DROPSphere. And, they designed and built Bruce using components that can tolerate the pressure of the deep ocean, developed associated software, and integrated a down-facing stereo camera system for visual surveys.

The primary goals of the fieldwork were to test the capabilities of the two systems, calibrate them, study the benefits of each, and identify potential improvements. Another goal was to collect images of coral reefs.

Based on what they learned during the fieldwork, the team will continue improving the capabilities of the vehicles, with an emphasis on enabling them to better withstand strong currents and high pressure. They will use the images they collected to generate photometric 3D reconstructions of the seafloor and to develop automatic annotation software for the detection and classification of corals.

This project will benefit the scientific community in two key ways: It will make deep-sea exploration more accessible to the larger scientific community and increase the speed of data analysis and availability.