DEEPi

DEEPi is a low-cost deep-sea camera and computer built on the Raspberry Pi, potted in epoxy, and tested past 5000 m. I was the principal developer of its open-source software, which handles capture, configuration, and live streaming over a single network link. The same software runs a four-camera array for multi-view imaging and has been used on landers, moorings, drop cameras, a fiber optic tether, and student projects. Derived versions are sold by JUICE Robotics.

Research Products

Paper: DEEPi: A miniaturized, robust, and economical camera and computer system for deep-sea exploration Deep Sea Research Part I, 2019, Phillips et al.
Paper: The fiber optic reel system: A compact deployment solution for tethered live-telemetry deep-sea robots and sensors Sensors, 2021, Phillips et al.
Paper: PresTo: A liquid-filled camera for low-cost imaging in the deep sea Deep Sea Research Part I, 2024, Motsenbocker et al.
Paper: A low-cost underwater stereo camera system for underwater quantitative imaging Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 2025, Runyan et al.
Dissertation: Advances in deep-sea imaging and soft robotics, Chapters 2 and 3 URI, 2023
Code: deepi-python GitHub, MIT
Code: deepi-array GitHub, four-camera array setup

Media and Outreach

Innovation @ URI: The smallest deep-sea system that can provide a livestream video feed Marine Technology News, 2021

DEEPi cameras on a baited drop camera, a seafloor sampler, and a small boat — DEEPi deployments. A baited remote underwater video camera (A), a seafloor sampler (B), and a high school internship project (C).

Epoxy-potted camera head with a Raspberry Pi board and lens — Compact DEEPi camera head for the multi-view array, potted in a single epoxy pour.

Synchronized frames from four cameras, the controller boards, and the array on a dock — Four-camera array field demonstration. Synchronized node views (left and right), the controller stack (top), and the array on its frame (bottom).