Anemo Robotics

The team develops tools that enable researchers, offshore developers, and environmental organisations to monitor marine life in challenging environments. Their solutions include long-term underwater camera systems for continuous monitoring and AI-powered software for automated species detection and ecological data analysis.

Within Ecowende, Anemo Robotics contributes to the scientific monitoring of nature-inclusive design (NID) measures at offshore wind turbines. In particular, the company supports research investigating whether specially designed fish holes in monopile foundations can function as shelter for fish. By deploying underwater cameras and analysing the collected footage, Anemo Robotics helps researchers observe marine life around offshore structures and assess how these innovations support marine biodiversity.

Artificial structures in the North Sea, including offshore wind farms, can provide habitat for a variety of marine species. One of the nature-inclusive innovations tested within Ecowende investigates whether fish holes installed in monopile foundations can serve as shelter for fish.

These fish holes are installed approximately 2 to 4 metres above the scour protection at the base of the monopile and allow fish to enter the interior of the structure. Similar openings already exist in monopiles for technical purposes, such as water replenishment or cable routing, and research suggests that such cavities may provide shelter and additional habitat for fish species.

For this study, the fish holes are installed at four end-of-string foundations within the wind farm. The research compares two different environmental conditions by positioning the openings either on the side of the monopile exposed to stronger currents or on the side with weaker current exposure. By observing fish activity under these different conditions, researchers aim to understand whether current direction influences how fish use the structures and whether the monopile interior functions as shelter or habitat.

Anemo Robotics supports this research by providing underwater camera systems that monitor the entrances of these fish holes. The cameras allow researchers to observe how fish interact with the structures, how frequently they enter, and whether the monopile interior is used as shelter.

Monitoring marine life in offshore environments is technically challenging. Traditional approaches often rely on divers, which limits observations to short time windows and daylight conditions.

Anemo Robotics develops underwater cameras designed for long-term deployments, allowing continuous observation of marine life with minimal disturbance to the ecosystem. These systems can operate autonomously for extended periods and capture ecological data across different seasons, environmental conditions, and times of day.

The cameras can also operate with red lighting, enabling night-time observations while minimising disturbance to marine species.

Continuous monitoring generates large volumes of underwater video, creating new opportunities for understanding marine ecosystems. To efficiently analyse this data, Anemo Robotics combines its camera systems with AI-based image analysis tools. The company uses a multi-class object detection algorithm that can automatically identify marine species appearing in the footage. This allows researchers to detect patterns in species presence, behaviour, and habitat use over time.

To ensure high data quality, the automated detections are reviewed using a so-called “human-in-the-loop” workflow, where marine biology experts validate and refine the AI results.

By combining continuous monitoring, automated detection, and expert validation, the system can transform large volumes of video footage into structured ecological datasets.

Within Ecowende, the collected data contributes to a broader scientific monitoring programme that investigates fish and benthic habitats using multiple methods, including telemetry, abiotic monitoring, baited cameras, and environmental DNA (eDNA). Together, these approaches help determine whether nature-inclusive offshore wind innovations have a measurable positive effect on marine ecosystems.

© Text in cooperation with Anemo Robotics.