An article in Marine Technology talks about NOUS, an underwater ‘artificial mind.’
Necessity for self powered systems
The establishment of Maritime Protective Areas (MPA) and marine archaeological sites has been an objective of the Ministries of Culture and Environment in Greece for a long time.
One of the main problems that delayed the implementation specifically of the “underwater museums”, was the way they were protected. Usually in ancient shipwrecks, only their cargo is preserved, which is mostly amphorae, that can be easily stolen.
Therefore it was both a necessity and a requirement for a system which should be self-powered (since in most of the places where wrecks are located there is no electrical power supply), able to connect to the internet with all available technologies for communication and remote control, have sensors which can monitor the site of interest continuously and alert appropriately in case of violations, tampering or other events.
Such a system could have many useful applications, such as monitoring and surveillance of marine protected parks, diving parks, sea farms; make real-time scientific observations throughout the day and over long periods of time and monitoring of biodiversity and climate change.
Underwater Visual Observation System
At the beginning of 2019, the design of the Underwater Visual Observation System “NOUS” (uNdersea visiOn sUrveillance System, which in Greek means “mind”) was launched, which was successfully completed a year later.
“NOUS” allows continuous (24/7) monitoring and protection of an underwater site using machine learning and image and sound processing algorithms.
Briefly, it is a system consisting of an underwater array of self-cleaning cameras and microphones, which are either connected by optical fiber and electrical power conductor to the nearest shore, or to a floating platform on the sea surface. On the shore or on the platform there is a photovoltaic panel power supply and communication devices for Internet connection.
On the occasion of the successful completion of the initial operation phase of the “NOUS” system in Alonissos, more detailed information and perspectives are presented in this article.
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Source: Marine Technology
