DEMO: Micro-ROV MIMISK
The ecological richness of Croatia’s maritime areas faces significant threats from man-made impacts such as pollution, overfishing, and climate change. Traditional methods of monitoring these critical blue carbon environments (BCEs) often fall short. The MultI-Modal Robot Inspection and monitoring of Sea Kelp (MIMISK) project aims to leverage advanced technologies in aerial-aquatic, multi-modal robotics for health monitoring and carbon sequestration of BCEs, with a focus on improving biodiversity monitoring, enhancing conservation, and supporting climate mitigation in both wild and farmed seaweed/sea kelp ecosystems. Our robotic technologies are designed to enhance seaweed monitoring and farming, particularly in complex coastal environments. Building on the MEDUSA drone, this multi-robot system combines aerial agility with detailed underwater inspection using a micro-ROV developed by the Laboratory for Underwater Systems and Technology at the University of Zagreb Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing (FER). This demo will focus on the micro-ROV developed at FER which has a total weight of approximately 600 g and overall length of 37 cm and includes real-time visual object detection using low-cost and low-power hardware.