How to achieve 20-30+ FPS with MarineSitu C3 Stereo Camera on BlueROV2?

Blue Robotics Products Cameras
1

Hi everyone,

I’m currently running a BlueROV2 Heavy configuration and integrating the MarineSitu C3 Stereo Camera. I’m working on underwater manipulation research using visuomotor policies, which means I strictly need a much higher, consistent frame rate from the depth/stereo pair—ideally 20 to 30 FPS or more—to feed the control network effectively.

I understand from the C3 specifications that the “typical” frame rate is around 3 FPS for color and 5 FPS for stereo when using the standard Fathom-X tether setup, due to the 15–20 Mbps bandwidth bottleneck.

Has anyone successfully bypassed this bandwidth limitation to get high FPS video data back to the topside PC? What are the best methods or hardware setups to achieve this? I would love to hear any recommendations or solutions that have worked for your teams.

Thanks in advance.

2

Hi @jj0523 -

To get the kind of video you’re after your going to bed a lot of bandwidth- a fiber optic link or short length standard Ethernet cable, not standard Fathom tether… You may also need a gigabit switch in the ROV, botblocks may have one that fits.