Hi community,
I’ve been looking through the projects
many of you have developed, and I’d like to share what I’ve been working on over the last few months.
First, a little context. I’m an embedded systems engineer some experience in the automotive industry. Like (I hope) everyone here, I’m passionate about the ocean. I love diving and I’m inspired by what lies beneath the surface, so I wanted to contribute to the current efforts to understand it better.
That’s why I started a small project, even though I had no background in ocean instrumentation or observation systems. I was confident that my embedded engineering skills could be put to good use. That’s how GTRAP was born. It’s similar to what @NickRaymomd has been doing: I used a low cost/energy consumption board with a NPU (Neuronal Processing Unit) that’s able to run tiny models to do some image recognition. After several iterations, and solving energy budget and waterproofing issues, I tested it in real-world conditions and deployed it in Cozumel in partnership with the Cozumel Coral Reef Restoration Program in Mexico. I was amazed by what it captured.
I then talked with a friend who runs an NGO about securing funding to keep developing it. Since then, continuing the project has been challenging. I now spend most of my time writing proposals, preparing development plans, and talking with stakeholders, and my prototype has been completely sidelined.
That’s how I ended up here. I’m glad to have found this initiative and to know there are other people crazy enough to take on projects like this. I’d still like to keep developing my prototype, but after a lot of research my perspective has changed. Maintaining a system in the ocean is a real challenge, and there’s much more to consider: energy budget, data transmission, edge processing. It’s a whole system, and I want to keep learning while being part of this effort.