Just though I would share our current progress in case anyone else wants to use Luxonis for underwater machine robotics, machine learning, and photogrammetry. Our goal was to have a camera that costs less than 1K, with similar image quality to a GoPro (4K, 60FPS, Pixel size greater than 1.5μm), but that we can connect with via USB to start/stop, and run models. None of the prebuilt Oak Camera meet our lens spec requirements so we went with the OAK-FFC-3P with an IMX577 module.
Out of the box the IMX577 with the M12 lens was very green and preformed poorly underwater. The given solution was to configure ColorCamera ISP values (e.g. increasing exposure limit), but we didn't really want to increase the expose time, as this also increases motion blur from waves and the motion of our robots, which in turn decreases the photogrammetry and machine vision quality.
We instead made a custom lens mount and chose a lens optimised for the IMX577 sensor, and the DOF we wanted by putting our sensor specs into a calculator (Calculating the depth of field (DOF)). Our first test was to use a Theia SL410M lens as it fit the specs we thought we wanted, but also has a lot of adjustability to fine tune the settings.
These images are taken at a depth of 1m - 4m with good visibility. Ignore the red shift (we didn't have an IR filter on the lens).
Overall the image quality was a huge improvement, without needing to increase the exposure. When we compared the images to the GoPro 13, we found that the fine detail was also a litter better. The FOV is smaller, compared to the GoPro, but a lot of the increase image size from the GoPro is unusable due to heavy distortion. The useable areas are quite similar, but with more detail using the Luxonis IMX577 with then upgraded lens.
Now that we know the Theia SL410M works based on the optimised lens settings, we are moving to a more streamlined lens that takes up less space with an IR filter (4mm FL, #33-300 + IR Filter). We will let you know how it goes after doing some testing. We will share the CAD files if it works in case someone else wants to do the same!
All up this wasn't the cheapest. The cost so far: Lens 377AUD + Filter 60AUD + Oak-FCC-3P 240 + IMX577 120AUD + Lens Mounts 60AUD = Total $857AUD.
We are very keen for the OAK 4 SoM breakout board whenever this comes along. For our wishlist, we are really hoping it has a UART/I2C passthrough so we can send additional sensor data through the same USB-C line, with 4 camera ports.
