Case Study: University of Hawaii ALOHA Cabled Observatory achieves 24/7 three-mile deep-sea HD video monitoring with Axis Communications

Diving deep toward the ocean floor with Axis

The University of Hawaii ALOHA Cabled Observatory needed continuous 24/7 video from an unmanned observatory three miles below the Pacific, but faced extreme water pressure, limited bandwidth and costly ROV servicing. To solve this, the ACO selected Axis Communications network PTZ cameras (AXIS 214 and AXIS Q6035) in pressure‑resistant glass domes, paired with AXIS Camera Station VMS and H.264 compression to provide reliable, remotely operated monitoring.

Axis Communications implemented digital PTZ cameras with intelligent features (guard tours, PTZ control) and H.264 streaming, enabling remote adjustments without retrieving equipment. The deployment delivers uninterrupted HDTV 1080p footage over the observatory’s constrained 100 megabytes-per-second link, reduced maintenance/ROV interventions, led to new biological discoveries and continuous live streams for research and education—outcomes the University says show the Axis cameras have been “ultra‑reliable.”

University of Hawaii ALOHA Cabled Observatory

Brian Chee

University of Hawaii ALOHA Cabled Observatory