PIV system to view aquatic organisms
Simultaneously measuring the speed of benthic invertebrate larvae and flow in controlled experiments
The Benthic Ecogeochemistry Laboratory (LECOB-CNRS/Sorbonne University) of the Oceanological Observatory of Banyuls-sur-Mer wanted to reproduce a PIV system presented in a publication co-authored by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Grove City College and the University of Washington in the United States of America (Wheeler et al. 2013).
The aim is to simultaneously measure the speed of benthic invertebrate larvae (sea urchins, corals, etc.) and water flow in controlled experiments. The team in this laboratory hopes to build on its behavioural research into larvae in water flows of different intensities to refine the digital simulation of their dispersion during the reproduction phase (Guizien et al. 2006, 2020).
The system implemented in the United States has an ultra-high-speed camera and a 300W pulse laser emitting in the near infra-red range to avoid disturbing the larvae during the experiment. Its components are oversized and limit system use (e.g., short acquisition times). R&D Vision therefore wanted to redesign a system tailored to the water flow properties (speed and size of the organisms viewed). Using a synchronous industrial camera with a 20W laser (supplied by our partner Opton Laser), we can carry out acquisitions with less than one millisecond between images on an image burst.
This approach is the perfect reflection of how R & R&D Vision works: understand the problems our clients face and come up with an optimal technical solution that considers the experimental and environmental constraints!
If you want to talk about your project, don’t hesitate to contact us by email at info@rd-vision.com.
