Nu—A Marine Life Monitoring and Exploration Submarine System

Marine life exploration is constrained by factors such as limited scuba diving time, depth restrictions for divers, costly expeditions, safety risks to divers’ health, and minimizing harm to marine ecosystems, where traditional diving often risks disturbing marine life. This paper introduces Nu (nam...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ali A. M. R. Behiry, Tarek Dafar, Ahmed E. M. Hassan, Faisal Hassan, Abdullah AlGohary, Mounib Khanafer
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-01-01
Series:Technologies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7080/13/1/41
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832587422730289152
author Ali A. M. R. Behiry
Tarek Dafar
Ahmed E. M. Hassan
Faisal Hassan
Abdullah AlGohary
Mounib Khanafer
author_facet Ali A. M. R. Behiry
Tarek Dafar
Ahmed E. M. Hassan
Faisal Hassan
Abdullah AlGohary
Mounib Khanafer
author_sort Ali A. M. R. Behiry
collection DOAJ
description Marine life exploration is constrained by factors such as limited scuba diving time, depth restrictions for divers, costly expeditions, safety risks to divers’ health, and minimizing harm to marine ecosystems, where traditional diving often risks disturbing marine life. This paper introduces Nu (named after an ancient Egyptian deity), a 3D-printed Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicle (ROUV) designed in an attempt to address these challenges. Nu employs Long Range (LoRa), a low-power and long-range communication technology, enabling wireless operation via a manual controller. The vehicle features an onboard live-feed camera with a separate communication system that transmits video to an external real-time machine learning (ML) pipeline for fish species classification, reducing human error by taxonomists. It uses Brushless Direct Current (BLDC) motors for long-distance movement and water pump motors for precise navigation, minimizing disturbance, and reducing damage to surrounding species. Nu’s functionality was evaluated in a controlled 2.5-m-deep body of water, focusing on connectivity, maneuverability, and fish identification accuracy. The fish detection algorithm achieved an average precision of 60% in identifying fish presence, while the classification model achieved 97% precision in assigning species labels, with unknown species flagged correctly. The testing of Nu in a controlled environment has met the system design expectations.
format Article
id doaj-art-4f31798e99334c11a404cc9cf49da053
institution Kabale University
issn 2227-7080
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Technologies
spelling doaj-art-4f31798e99334c11a404cc9cf49da0532025-01-24T13:50:50ZengMDPI AGTechnologies2227-70802025-01-011314110.3390/technologies13010041Nu—A Marine Life Monitoring and Exploration Submarine SystemAli A. M. R. Behiry0Tarek Dafar1Ahmed E. M. Hassan2Faisal Hassan3Abdullah AlGohary4Mounib Khanafer5College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, American University of Kuwait, Salmiya 20002, KuwaitCollege of Engineering and Applied Sciences, American University of Kuwait, Salmiya 20002, KuwaitCollege of Engineering and Applied Sciences, American University of Kuwait, Salmiya 20002, KuwaitCollege of Engineering and Applied Sciences, American University of Kuwait, Salmiya 20002, KuwaitCollege of Engineering and Applied Sciences, American University of Kuwait, Salmiya 20002, KuwaitCollege of Engineering and Applied Sciences, American University of Kuwait, Salmiya 20002, KuwaitMarine life exploration is constrained by factors such as limited scuba diving time, depth restrictions for divers, costly expeditions, safety risks to divers’ health, and minimizing harm to marine ecosystems, where traditional diving often risks disturbing marine life. This paper introduces Nu (named after an ancient Egyptian deity), a 3D-printed Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicle (ROUV) designed in an attempt to address these challenges. Nu employs Long Range (LoRa), a low-power and long-range communication technology, enabling wireless operation via a manual controller. The vehicle features an onboard live-feed camera with a separate communication system that transmits video to an external real-time machine learning (ML) pipeline for fish species classification, reducing human error by taxonomists. It uses Brushless Direct Current (BLDC) motors for long-distance movement and water pump motors for precise navigation, minimizing disturbance, and reducing damage to surrounding species. Nu’s functionality was evaluated in a controlled 2.5-m-deep body of water, focusing on connectivity, maneuverability, and fish identification accuracy. The fish detection algorithm achieved an average precision of 60% in identifying fish presence, while the classification model achieved 97% precision in assigning species labels, with unknown species flagged correctly. The testing of Nu in a controlled environment has met the system design expectations.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7080/13/1/413D printingfish species classificationimage processingLong Range (LoRa)machine learningmarine biology
spellingShingle Ali A. M. R. Behiry
Tarek Dafar
Ahmed E. M. Hassan
Faisal Hassan
Abdullah AlGohary
Mounib Khanafer
Nu—A Marine Life Monitoring and Exploration Submarine System
Technologies
3D printing
fish species classification
image processing
Long Range (LoRa)
machine learning
marine biology
title Nu—A Marine Life Monitoring and Exploration Submarine System
title_full Nu—A Marine Life Monitoring and Exploration Submarine System
title_fullStr Nu—A Marine Life Monitoring and Exploration Submarine System
title_full_unstemmed Nu—A Marine Life Monitoring and Exploration Submarine System
title_short Nu—A Marine Life Monitoring and Exploration Submarine System
title_sort nu a marine life monitoring and exploration submarine system
topic 3D printing
fish species classification
image processing
Long Range (LoRa)
machine learning
marine biology
url https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7080/13/1/41
work_keys_str_mv AT aliamrbehiry nuamarinelifemonitoringandexplorationsubmarinesystem
AT tarekdafar nuamarinelifemonitoringandexplorationsubmarinesystem
AT ahmedemhassan nuamarinelifemonitoringandexplorationsubmarinesystem
AT faisalhassan nuamarinelifemonitoringandexplorationsubmarinesystem
AT abdullahalgohary nuamarinelifemonitoringandexplorationsubmarinesystem
AT mounibkhanafer nuamarinelifemonitoringandexplorationsubmarinesystem