Mapping the seafloor is an incredibly powerful tool that allows us to access the health of coral reefs and coastal marine ecosystems. You can achieve stunning 3D maps of the seafloor similar to this sample. Current methods for mapping the seafloor is prohibitively expensive and time consuming and are not practical to roll out in large areas or to repeat periodically because of the high costs.
This kind of technology could give us valuable data showing whether the marine life is improving or deteriorating and would allow us to create rich seafloor data and high quality images for researchers to study. This could significantly advance our understanding of coral reefs and marine ecosystems.
Develop a device consisting of an array of camera’s that can be dipped in the ocean in a grid pattern to rapidly and inexpensively map the seafloor and be stitched together with photogrammetry into a 3D map.