Maka Niu: A low-cost, modular imaging and sensor platform to increase observation capabilities of the deep ocean
Name
fmars-09-986237.pdf
Size
11.75 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
8c6707c676075292435f413ee8e503d4
Author(s)
Novy, Dan
Kawasumi, Lui
Ferguson, Jon
Sullivan, Margaret
Bell, Peter
Chow, Jennifer S.
de Sousa, João Borges
Cantner, Kat A.
Woodward, Benjamin
Adams, Allan
Date Issued
November 17, 2022
Publisher
Frontiers Media SA
Citation
Novy, Dan, Kawasumi, Lui, Ferguson, Jon, Sullivan, Margaret, Bell, Peter et al. 2022. "Maka Niu: A low-cost, modular imaging and sensor platform to increase observation capabilities of the deep ocean." 9.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
The deep sea (>200 m) is vast, covering 92.6% of the seafloor and largely unexplored. Imaging and sensor platforms capable of surviving the immense pressures at these depths are expensive and often engineered by individuals and institutions in affluent countries as unique, monolithic vehicles that require significant expertise and investment to build, operate, and maintain. Maka Niu was co-designed with a global community of deep-sea researchers. It is a low-cost, modular imaging and sensor platform that leverages off-the-shelf commodity hardware along with the efficiencies of mass production to decrease the price per unit and allow more communities to explore previously unseen regions of the deep ocean. Maka Niu combines a Raspberry Pi single-board computer, a Pi Camera Module V2, and a novel pressure housing and viewport combination capable of withstanding 1,500 m water depth. Other modules, including high-lumen LEDs, can be engineered to use the same battery charging and control system and form factor, allowing for an ever-increasing number of capabilities to be added to the system. After deployment, imagery and sensor data are wirelessly uploaded to Tator, an integrated media management and machine learning backend for automated analysis and classification. Maka Niu’s mobile mission programming and data management systems are designed to be user-friendly. Here, Maka Niu is described in detail along with data and imagery recorded from deployments around the world.
Subjects
Ocean Engineering
Water Science and Technology
Aquatic Science
Global and Planetary Change
Oceanography
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Media Laboratory
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.986237
