A Hybrid Wetmate Connector on the HD Camera
An ODI hybrid wet-mate connector provides > 1 Gbs video transmission capabilities and power to the RSN-OOI-NSF high definition camera that was deployed during the VISIONS'13 Expedition. The wetmate connectors allow an ROV to connect and disconnect infrastructure underwater without having to recover the equipment. The camera shown here is at a water depth of ~ 5000 ft at the summit of Axial Seamount.
The orange extension cable (on right of camera) was powered up by the ROV ROPOS through an ~ 4 km extension cable that traverses eastward across the caldera at Axial Seamount. Live video video from the HD camera was streamed over the Internet for several hours during testing of the camera. In 2014, the extension cable will be connected to Primary Node 3B for 365 day access. The camera was installed at the base of the hydrothermal chimney called Mushroom in the ASHES hydrothermal field.
Photo credit: NSF-OOI/UW/CSSF.