Some types of cameras are designed to be used underwater,
but of course the ocean provides a challenge for the videographers. The biggest
difficulty is the pressure of the water, not to mention they have to face the
operational hassle. To facilitate this underwater activity, a group of
adventurers and maritime lovers introduce iBubble, a diving drone to help the
underwater video recording process.
The iBubble's principle is actually not too different from
the UAV. But instead of flying in the air, it works like a miniature of
submarine. iBubble brings a number of capabilities to simplify the use and the
recording procedure. It is simple to use, can operate automatically and smart.
The device is designed to be compatible with GoPro, especially for Hero3 up to
the newest type.
With the automatic mode, iBubble can follow the user and
then record circularly in vertical or horizontal axis. To produce stable
videos, the developers integrate camera stabilization system. Another
constraint on underwater videography is the light source, because the deeper
the location, the darker it will be. As a solution, the design team puts two
1000-lumen lamps to improve the image quality.
A transmitted band unit has been set up for controlling iBubble
and accesses its features. You will be presented with eight modes and recording
switch (start/stop). The drone can analyze and keep the band stay in the
middle. iBubble communicates with the band through Ultra Short Baseline (USBL),
low-frequency signal which is also used by submarines, it won't endanger the
divers and marine fauna.
There is also manual control mode, for example, if you want
to record an octopus that's hiding in the coral, you can call the drone and
switch to manual mode, you can then use the iBubble as a regular camera. If you
don't want to dive, iBubble is equipped with remote control capability that's
connected with 100 m cable to present live video.
iBubble can work up to a depth of 60-meters. Its
rechargeable battery can active for one hour in normal condition (temperature
10°-30°C and sea currents 1m/s), it can run at a maximum speed of 1-meter per
second.
You can order the iBubble through Indiegogo, which will be
distributed starting in June 2017.