There is a demand for opportunities to observe the underwater world without having to go into the water yourself, especially among researchers. On the one hand, this is due to the reduced disturbance of the animals to be observed. On the other hand, the limited observation time due to the amount of air available to the diver is eliminated. There are already camera systems available on the market that can be permanently installed underwater and whose recorded video is transmitted to land via a cable. The cost of such cameras is high due to the complex design and limited quantities. Technological progress has meant that suitable components for building a camera are now available at affordable prices.
The aim of this project is to build an underwater camera from available components for researching octopuses and to evaluate its suitability. The implementation is carried out iteratively using the Design Science Research Methodology (DSRM). First, the housing is built and its tightness is evaluated down to a depth of 18 meters. This is followed by the installation of the necessary electronics in the housing and the development of the software required to generate two video streams of different quality. In order to prevent fouling and the associated contamination of the front window, an anti-fouling device is constructed which illuminates the camera’s viewing window from the outside with light in the C range of ultraviolet radiation (UV-C).
The measurements carried out as part of the evaluation show that the use of the two hardware encoders on the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) of the single-board computer used can increase the processing speed and reduce the heat generated. The use of commercially available components reduces costs and means that a budget of 500 Euro is sufficient for the construction of such a camera and no special tools are required.