The European channel Euronews has published a documentary on the use of UTOFIA in the context of tuna fish farm monitoring in southern Spain.
You can also read the complete article by clicking on the link below :
Futuris : Underwater cameras – The next generation
Company description : DTU Aqua, also known as the National Institute of Aquatic Resources, is an institute within the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). DTU Aqua conducts research, provides advice, offers university level education and contributes to innovation in sustainable exploitation and management of marine and aquatic resources.
Role in UTOFIA : Within UTOFIA, DTU-Aqua will be responsible for the Dissemination and Exploitation work package where it will take the lead in promoting project results to the scientific and fisheries communities. It will also be heavily involved in work package 7, System verification, use cases and field testing, in the preparation, execution and dissemination of test-case applications of immediate interest to end-users.
Company description : AZTI is an expert R+D center in marine and food research, committed to the social and economic development of the fishing, marine and food industry, as well as to the study of the marine environment and natural resources in the context of sustainable development. The Marine division of AZTI contributes to the knowledge and research of marine and coastal environments necessary to attain sustainable management of resources, goods and services. Likewise, it performs research to obtain a sustainable fishing activity carried out by an economically competitive fleet, with responsible fishing practices.
Role in UTOFIA : Within UTOFIA, AZTI will be in charge of the end user testing of the system, working closely with DTU-Aqua and SUBSEA TECH. Sea trials will be set up to test the new product, compare the new technology with currently available imaging technologies and study how UTOFIA will help to develop new sampling methods of different descriptors of the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). AZTI will also work on the exploitation and dissemination plans of the project, in particular by presenting UTOFIA in scientific meetings and to fishermen associations.
Company description : Subsea Tech is an engineering company created in 2005 and based in Marseilles, South of France, employing currently 12 engineers within 20 people in total. Specialized in underwater instrumentation and observation systems with their own range of mini-ROVs, catamarans and underwater cameras Subsea Tech is offering customized solutions fitted with video, sonar and various other sensors for shallow and turbid waters inspections. Main application fields are the Civil engineering industry, Civil security/defense, Oil&Gas, Scientific Research and Aquaculture. Subsea Tech does also have a small services activity (ROV+pilot) and a dedicated R&D Innovation Department to design special machines on customers’ specifications.
Role in UTOFIA : Within UTOFIA, Subsea Tech is leading the Requirement analysis and system specifications work package and is also strongly involved in the housing and optics design and integration, field testing of the system towards marine littering and the Exploitation and Dissemination Plan together with DTU-Aqua and AZTI including the website and technical brochures.
Company description : Odos Imaging, based in Edinburgh (Scotland), is focusing on the development and marketing of high-resolution time-of-flight 3D imaging systems, primarily for industrial markets. The company was incorporated in late 2010 as a spin-out from the Siemens Technology Accelerator and currently employs eight personnel on a full time basis, predominately in technical roles. The company addresses industrial automation markets, particularly related to logistics applications, as well as intelligent transportation markets, by providing a range of off-the-shelf vision systems for direct integration into applications, as well as OEM and custom solutions for partners who wish to have access to the underlying technology.
Role in UTOFIA : Within the UTOFIA project, ODOS has lead responsibility for the Image Processing work-package and is also significantly involved with the ‘Sensors and electronics’ and ‘Laser’ work-packages. ODOS will provide the processing electronic ‘brain’ of the UTOFIA system, comprising custom data acquisition and processing algorithms, as well as coordination of the various components of the system such as the pulsed laser source, image sensor control and data interfacing to the outside world.
Company description : Founded in 1998, Bright Solutions’ activity is oriented towards the development of state-of-the-art diode-pumped solid-state laser (DPSSL) systems aimed at superior efficiency, compactness and reliability. Located in Cura Carpignano (Italy), its proprietary designs in the field of DPSSL for industrial applications are an indisputable success being today marketed worldwide.
Role in UTOFIA : Bright Solutions’ activity within UTOFIA is to design, manufacture and test the Q-switched laser, with adequate characteristics in terms of pulse energy, repetition rate, beam quality, weight, compactness and reliability to guarantee the targeted performance needed for the time-gated operation of the UTOFIA system.
Company description : SINTEF is a Norwegian non-profit research foundation employing 2100 people at their main locations Trondheim and Oslo. More than 90% of the annual turnover derives from contract research and minimal state funding (around 6%). SINTEF is multidisciplinary, with international top-level expertise in a wide range of technological and scientific disciplines, medicine and the social sciences. Our company vision is “technology for a better society”, and it is an important aspect of our societal role to contribute to the creation of more jobs. SINTEF is represented in this consortium by the Department of Optical Measurements Systems and Data Analysis.
Role in UTOFIA : SINTEF is the coordinator for UTOFIA and leads the Management work. SINTEF’s broad basis in developing industrial measurement solutions is basis for leadership of the System Integration. Our experience within optics development and data analysis is significant for contributions to Optics design and marine housing. Likewise SINTEF will develop the base software for analysis of the data from the image sensor to obtain excellent Image processing and Image augmentation.
Company description : Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is Europe’s biggest organization for applied research, and currently operates a total of 67 institutes and research units with a workforce of over 23,000 people. Fraunhofer IMS, located in Duisburg, is one of these institutes with about 250 employees performing R&D in microelectronics with the mission to transfer the results early to industry, either by product development and pilot production, or by licensing, or foundation of spin-offs. With their long time experience in CMOS photo detectors and imager design, their processing and characterization and with an in-house 8” (200mm) CMOS wafer line (certified according to the automotive industry standards) Fraunhofer IMS is able to offer dedicated photo sensing solutions to their customers.
Role in UTOFIA : Within UTOFIA, Fraunhofer IMS will work on the development of time-of-flight sensor systems for Underwater Range Imaging. The main tasks will be the development of an integrated CMOS based time-of-flight sensor fabricated in Fraunhofer IMS’ 0.35μm CMOS technology and the adaption of this new sensor to ODOS’ ToF platform. Furthermore Fraunhofer IMS will work on raw data processing and calibration algorithms to reconstruct 3D measurement data and also support the system integration phase of the complete underwater system.
Most power stations have submerged parts like cooling chambers, water intakes from rivers/shores/lakes, submerged turbines etc. that need inspection. UTOFIA provides the perfect tool to exploitation and maintenance companies for:
Most Civil Security agencies including the Water Police, Coast Guards, River Police, Harbour Authorities, Customs, Navies and Special Forces, concentrate on coastal and harbour areas where populations and ship traffic are concentrated. The waters they operate in are mainly shallow and therefore subject to turbidity which is where UTOFIA provides a clear advantage with its range gated imaging and 3D reconstruction capability for:
UTOFIA is an excellent tool for inspecting large above/under water infrastructures such as dams, bridges, etc. which are essentially located in coastal and inland waters and therefore in relatively shallow waters with usually very low visibility. The UTOFIA capability of range-gated imaging and 3D reconstruction allows for:
Marine renewable energy parks are mainly installed in shallow waters of a few hundred meters depth. These waters are often characterized by low visibility which is where UTOFIA provides a clear advantage with high-contrast, range-gated images and 3D reconstruction capabilities for:
Within the exploitation of hydrocarbon resources UTOFIA provides, thanks to its extended range and 3D imaging capability, an advantage mainly in the shallow waters sector which is characterized by low visibility for:
UTOFIA gives a clear advantage in time and therefore cost to marine archaeologists by providing clear video in turbid waters as well as 3D reconstruction of artefacts and sites. UTOFIA will therefore be the right equipment to:
Low visibility in turbulent waters with high degree of sediment is a major challenge for fisheries with ongoing survey or inspection needs. UTOFIA with its capability of delivering higher contrast images in turbid waters, with a range improved by factor 2-3 over conventional underwater cameras, will help reduce the inspection costs by approximately half and allow for easier:
Underwater cameras are used in a variety of ways by fish farm operators, from hand held systems lowered into an enclosure, to moored systems and ROV deployments. The quality of the information delivered by these systems is strongly dependent on water turbidity. In this, the increased range in turbid waters provided by the UTOFIA system gives a clear advantage to aquaculture stakeholders in terms of:
UTOFIA provides an advantage over conventional video surveillance/inspection equipment widely used in the marine sciences sector by offering, particularly in low visibility conditions, a longer range imaging solution and therefore a wider coverage, reducing the operational time necessary to survey the same area. It also provides 3D imaging capabilities. UTOFIA allows continuous observation at an extended range, helping identifying and observing species that live in a low visibility habitat with fewer disturbances to them. It therefore is the perfect tool for:
