Omni-Cam: An autonomous free-descent omni-directional camera for measuring radiance in marine environments

To measure oceanic radiance and hence, the pelagic environment of marine cephalopods, we have built a new underwater multiple camera system that consists of a glass sphere that houses 6 machine vision cameras each capable of outputting uncompressed 2 megapixel images at 60 Hz. The cameras are arranged so that their fields of view are all orthogonal, pointing along the positive and negative directions of the principal Cartesian axes (+/- x, +/- y, and +/- z). Taking all of the camera data together, the light field incident on the Omni-directional camera system can be recorded. The system was configured for autonomous operation with batteries, computers, cameras, and ancillary electronics inside the 17” glass sphere. Preliminary data, recorded in both a pelagic and benthic environment, indicate that the data acquired by the system can provide interesting insights into spatial and temporal fluctuations in underwater animal habitats.