Z CAM Camera Pod and integration with the BlueROV2

Third Party Products Hardware
1

MarineSee has developed a BlueROV2 Camera Pod for the professional Z CAM E2 Cinema Camera.

image
image1054×577 85.6 KB

The Z CAM is mounted in a rigid chassis which has three positions for the camera to allow for different lenses.

The assembled pod has six jacking screw points and a vent port to aid with disassembly. The vent port can also be used to check that there are no leaks the using the ROV vacuum pump.

The Z CAM is connected to the BlueROV2 Electronics Enclosure where it uses the spare wires on the umbilical. This is then split on the surface to allow the video from the Z CAM to be viewed via a second Ethernet port.

The live feed can be monitored using an Oculus 2 VR headset via the Virtual Desktop app. which also gives control of the camera’s settings while filming. With the headset on, there is no interference from the sun’s glare.

For further details have a look at the web page BlueROV2 Z CAM Camera Pod

Andy Marsh - MarineSee Project Director

5 Likes
2

Hi @andyfmarsh, welcome to the forum! :slight_smile:

This is really cool to see - thanks for sharing! :smiley:

Given the optical issues with filming underwater, this is a great idea, and hopefully will help anyone wanting to do cinema-level filming!

Interesting. Do you have an example of what the interface looks like, and how it gets used? :slight_smile:

By the way, I’ve added this post to a table of vision enhancement options which is gradually being compiled :slight_smile:

3

Hi @andyfmarsh, great to see this kind of innovations in the BlueROV ecosystem!

Can you please indicate the maximum depth and the expected autonomy with the 7,2v 10200mAh battery?

Thanks

4

The view from the Oculus 2 is like being in a cinema, the interface to the ROV PC is via a app called Virtual Desktop which runs the client. I will do another post detailing the process.
I have attached a screenshot below.

Oculus Desktop 02
Oculus Desktop 02894×671 128 KB

1 Like
5

Ahh right, I wasn’t thinking about controllers, makes sense :slight_smile:

6

The maximum depth depends on the materials, I use a PVC housing and an acrylic dome which should be good for 100m (I will run a pressure test before selling them). Then there is the length of the cable to worry about as 100m is probably the max if you want to view the output on the surface.
The camera can be controlled from the surface so the battery will depend on the amount of time you are recording, I am currently limited by the size of my CFast memory card as 128Gb lasts about an hour when recording 4K (305MB/s), I will have to invest in a 1Tb (£700).

7

Hi!
What about the heat dissipation? I know that the zcam get quite warm after some time (used freehand reach 40-45C degree), isn’t there an overheating risk when operating inside the PVC housing?

8

Is it true, that the last post was May 2023 - Are there any news?
I wonder what lens you are using and how the camera is performing in low light conditions.