CORAL: An Autonomous Long-Term Underwater Monitoring Device

Overview

The ocean covers 70% of Earth’s surface, but only 25% of it is studied. Many of the current tools marine biologists use to study the ocean are very expensive, and they don’t have the ability to collect long-term footage and data. My project addresses this problem by creating a low-cost underwater monitoring device that can help researchers learn more about aquatic ecosystems. My device is called CORAL, which stands for Continuous Observation and Research for Aquatic Life. CORAL can capture photos and videos and collect water data such as temperature and salinity. It has shown that it can stay in the ocean for months at a time, and it also has a patent-pending feature that can automatically remove biofilm growth, which helps it work for long-term deployment. To start this project, the concept design was made out of Legos, a Raspberry Pi, and webcams. I tested it out and developed prototype 1, which had an acrylic and PVC-based housing and had electronics and cameras to take footage. Additionally, it had a cleaning mechanism that worked by moving up and down across CORAL’s surface and removing biofilm and growth using an abrasive sponge. At first, this design was dry-tested, then tested in a horse trough filled with water. The results showed that CORAL’s vacuum seal was successful, and the housing withstood the water conditions. Next, I tested CORAL in the La Jolla Tide Pools. These short-term tests were to figure out if CORAL was compatible in the ocean. Prototype 1 (and a control device) was tested at the Scripps Kaplan Lab for 10 days to determine its durability. It had promising results by keeping the vacuum seal unbroken and taking footage and data. Then, I iterated on CORAL’s prototype 1 and made prototype 2, which had a modular design for the weight holder. After analyzing the results, I doubled the battery capacity, added a sensor system to CORAL, and clipped the cleaning mechanism sides to prevent them from flying off of CORAL underwater, which was prototype 3. Scientific divers from UCSD deployed it in the Pacific Ocean for a proper ocean test. CORAL stayed in the ocean for 30 days and stayed at a depth of 20 feet. It came back with amazing results: the battery had survived the whole month, the cameras and sensors took data of the environment around CORAL, and CORAL was still intact. The cleaning mechanism successfully cleaned the acrylic housing. The camera quality can be upgraded. In my next steps, CORAL’s housing design will be changed to ensure that marine biologists can swap the battery easily. The cleaning mechanism will be changed because it was hard to determine the tightness of the zippers that hold the cleaning mechanism parts together. The camera settings would be optimized to capture underwater footage.

Competition history

• CSEF 2026 Environmental Engineering (Track 2) (Junior Division) · Entry J-12-04

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