Innovative Underwater Camera Is Small but Mighty
#MightySmall
Innovative Underwater Camera Is Small but Mighty
#MightySmall
Research Terms
Electrical Engineering Ocean Engineering
Industries
Ocean Microelectronics & Computer Products
SPIE, Member; 2013 - present
IEEE, Member; 2000 - present
The early stages of the fish life cycle are critical for survival into the reproductive stage. Without appropriate larval densities and live feed densities, the survival of the fish are at risk. Larval enumeration and growth monitoring systems allow aquaculture producers to both optimize hatchery space and to maintain proper densities of live feed organisms. Current methods of enumeration and growth monitoring are manual methods requiring significant resources and suffer from inaccuracy.
Researchers at FAU have developed a cost-effective tool for reliable larval enumeration and continuous growth monitoring in a non-intrusive manner. The system is comprised of an image capture front end which utilizes a light field rendering camera and strobe light. The image is then processed using a proprietary algorithm to enhance the image and then analyzed. This technology could potentially reduce feed costs, improve survivability, and lower production costs of aquaculture.
FAU is seeking partners to advance this technology into the marketplace through licensing or development partnerships.
Aquaculture is the breeding, rearing, and harvesting of fish, shellfish, and aquatic plants for food and feed supply. It is expected that aquaculture is expected to produce nearly two-thirds of the fish for global consumption by 2030. Although aquaculture has proven to be a successful method for food production, the field is facing challenges that compel innovation to ensure its sustainability.
Researchers at FAU have developed a novel artificial intelligence-driven water-quality monitoring framework. This system will achieve seamless human/machine collaboration and conduct automated sampling at frequencies relevant for accurate prediction. The novel technology provides a platform that enables cost-effective water quality measurements with advanced accuracy and less environmental burden.
FAU is seeking partners to advance this technology into the marketplace through licensing or development partnerships.
Current underwater imaging faces challenges with low visibility and high noise, limiting the detection of hazardous objects like Explosive Ordinance Devices (EOD). This problem necessitates a technology capable of penetrating these barriers to provide clear, actionable imagery.
Researchers at Florida Atlantic University have developed a compact, active imaging system that surmounts these challenges, fitting into small unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV) and enhancing image quality through advanced noise-reduction techniques. Its unique illumination method and high dynamic range imaging redefine underwater clarity, outperforming existing solutions in compactness and image fidelity.
FAU seeks to advance this innovation into the marketplace through licensing or development partnerships.
Polyurethane foams have found employment in a variety of industrial and commercial applications. These materials have excellent thermal insulation properties along with high mechanical strength properties.
Researchers at FAU utilized these materials to design a foam that can be activated and used in underwater environments. Specific application areas include use in structural frameworks that house underwater sensors, emergency release mechanisms that bring objects to the surface of the water, buoyance balances that control platform depth, and integration into undersea robot designs. This chemically activated foam can be used instead of underwater mechanical pumps, which helps reduce the overall weight of oceanic platform systems and equipment used in marine applications. This helps to expedite in-field construction time while reducing energy requirements and operating expenses.
FAU is seeking partners to advance this technology into the marketplace through licensing or development partnerships.
Due to the rising global population, a substantial increase in fish production is expected over the next few decades. Unfortunately, global fisheries only can increase output by 14-17%, primarily by reducing pressure on overfished stocks and increasing pressure on the underexploited. Within these fisheries, dissolved oxygen (DO) monitoring is a practice that is essential to fish health. In addition, it can be used to increase the yield of fish crops; however, monitoring DO is labor-intensive, expensive, and time-consuming.
Researchers at Florida Atlantic University have developed a dissolved oxygen-sensing platform called the Hybrid Aerial Underwater robotiCs System (HAUCS). It comprises a DO sensor that is held and stabilized on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) via a robotic, self-folding extension that submerges the sensor into the water. The system is capable of measuring environmental parameters at multiple locations and depths, is immune from biofouling and is scalable to accommodate operations of different sizes. The inventors have created a prototype of the system and demonstrated proof of concept in a pond.
FAU seeks partners to advance this technology into the marketplace through licensing or development partnerships.
Images captured in degraded visual environments, such as atmospheric turbulence and underwater distortion, often suffer from reduced quality. Current enhancement methods are slow and based on potentially inaccurate assumptions, especially in dynamic settings. This can lead to image artifacts like chromatic aberration and aliasing due to scene under-sampling.
Researchers at Florida Atlantic University have developed a multi-frame image enhancement technique utilizing a Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) framework to restore images distorted by degraded visual environments. By leveraging a combined correntropy and Fourier space loss function, it offers superior clarity by reducing non-gaussian noise and correcting geometric distortions. This method surpasses traditional single image enhancement approaches by producing sharper, more consistent images without the usual assumptions, making it especially effective in dynamic environments.
FAU seeks to advance this technology into the marketplace through licensing or development partnerships.
