Tokyo-based underwater infrastructure provider INFLUX, in collaboration with Nagasaki University’s Marine Future Innovation Institute and the Graduate School of Engineering, recently announced that that they had developed the Aquaremona mapping drone to help in accurate surveys of important seaweed beds. Designed for max resistance to the powerful local tidal currents, the Aquaremona will monitor these previously unexplored vulnerable ecosystems for carbon deposits and other necessary biomarkers.
Equipped with eight separate sensor clusters, the Aquaremona is totally omnidirectional and contains a swappable battery system to maximise range. It features two cameras and a sonar function to find out the complex underwater topography in the realm. Utilizing optical flow technology on its dual camera feed allows it to take care of a stable position, which is difficult to do manually on this complex and unique operating environment.
On a simulated seaweed bed in Shimabara Bay, Shimabara City, Nagasaki Prefecture, the technology was showcased with a grid of 1m x 1m spaced tubing. The Aquaremora quickly created an in depth 3D model, mapping the region out. The detailed height information gathered on the plants allows the Aquaremora to quickly assess the seaweed bed’s carbon dioxide-absorbing abilities, a very important next step within the fight against climate change. Coastal denudation and warming waters have weakened Japan’s seaweed beds, which turn out to be a very important processor of “blue carbon”, or carbon dioxide stored in water. INFLUX hopes to start commercializing so-called “blue” carbon credits related to those seaweed beds within the near future.
Partially in consequence of climate change, higher ways of understanding underwater biomes have turn out to be more necessary during the last couple of years. The same project by the University of Florida and Aurigo Software, called Bathyscope, uses a unique model with a “home-base” principal craft alongside smaller units for mapping depth. It’s already getting used in america for infrastructure inspection and similar biome management.
Other offshore operations by INFLUX include offshore power generation inspection. More information on their business, alongside quotes, is obtainable here.
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