Details
- Mission objective
- Objective 1a - Protect and restore marine and coastal ecosystems and biodiversityObjective 1b - Protect and restore marine and freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity Focus on freshwaterObjective 2a - Prevent and eliminate pollution - litter and microplasticsObjective 2b - Prevent and eliminate pollution – nutrients‚ chemicals‚ pesticidesEnabler 1 - Ocean digital knowledge system
- Lighthouse
- Atlantic basin
- Sector
- Marine living resourcesBlue biotechnology
- Topic(s)
- Big dataEcosystem approachMachine learningMarine protected areas (MPAs)Ocean modelsOcean observationOceanographySeabedSpecies and habitat
- Type of action
- Upscaling, deployment and replication of solutions
- Solution owner
- iAtlantic
- Country
- United Kingdom
Description
The Azor drift-cam is an user-friendly underwater video system designed for surveying deep-sea benthic habitats at depths of up to 1,000 meters. It offers a versatile tool for deep-sea exploration, especially in nearshore areas, and can be deployed from fishing boats, keeping operational costs low and benefiting from local fisher knowledge. Built with off-the-shelf components, the system uses small action cameras, powerful LED lights, a laser system for image scaling, and a temperature/depth sensor. Its stainless-steel structure is designed to withstand rough terrain and collisions, with curved bars for protection against rocks or fishing lines. The drift-cam operates without a propulsion system, unlike ROVs, and doesn’t require constant towing, making it easy to deploy manually from small vessels. The system is battery-powered, reducing risks by avoiding electrical cables.
