St. Petersburg State University Develops Integrated System for Seafloor Exploration
The system can help detect mineral deposits on the ocean floor.
Researchers at St. Petersburg State University (SPbU) have developed a unique hardware-and-software system for exploring the seafloor. It became a key component of an international expedition to search for and assess mineral deposits in the Atlantic Ocean.
The equipment was specifically designed to withstand the high pressure found at great depths. Its built-in video analytics system captures high-quality photo and video data.
“Our team has developed an instrument that can operate in conditions where several kilometers of water separate the camera lens from the computer aboard the research vessel. To make this possible, we placed the camera in a pressure-resistant sealed housing, equipped the instrument with power and data transmission systems, and connected it to the vessel by means of a cable tether,” said Vyacheslav Polovkov, director of SPbU’s Advanced Engineering School.
Software is a critical component of the system. It uses video analytics to process large volumes of data. The model was trained on 50,000 images and can now interpret the data autonomously.
