Growing up in Port Douglas, Australia, Adam Cropp was surrounded by some of the most beautiful wonders of nature, like the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Inspired by his childhood home, Adam went on to get an education in marine biology, film, and photography. He has traveled around the world studying marine animals. To help carry out his research missions, Adam founded Osibot, an open source robotics company to assist in conservation and scientific research.

The engineers at Osibot have designed two aquatic drones, the Osibot I-Mary and the Osibot Heavy ROV. They are in the final stages of working on a third drone called the Osibot II Research Duck that will be able to be dispersed throughout the world’s oceans for remote research. The Mary is a remotely operated, solar powered, surface level vessel that was developed to test open source research systems in the South Pacific Ocean. The Osibot Heavy ROV is a fully capable submersible drone with an endless dive time. The drone is powered through a 100 meter surface tether. The easy to maneuver drone has 2 high powered lights and an HD camera that can be tilted.

Adam has been using the Osibot Heavy ROV all over the world to research marine life. Many of the images he captures are available for sale, but his primary goal is to educate people about marine animals. Over the last year, Adam came up with a new way of using his drones to engage people with marine culture.

During quarantine because of COVID-19, Adam realized that people around the world could use a vacation to the GBR, a place that always filled him with peace and serenity. He developed Teleportal World Network that connects directly to the Osibot Heavy ROVs. Through Teleportal, anyone can remotely operate a drone through the GBR for an up close look at the animals and megafauna unique to the reef. “Our ‘guests’ get to ‘swim’ alongside a myriad of coral and fish species including reef turtles, sharks, sea snakes, cuttlefish, and manta rays,” Adam said. “Seeing the degradation of the reef I wanted to open it up to visitors without them having to worry about their environmental impact. The robots are solar-powered and have obstacle avoidance, they have much less impact on the reef than a typical tourist.”

All someone has to do is go to the Teleportal website and create an account. Packages range from as little as $10, with the most popular one costing $30. Adam has a detailed tutorial video on how to set up an account and then how to begin controlling the drone. Currently, there are two drones permanently positioned along the GBR providing a live stream view of the reef. Adam says it takes about 45 seconds for the drone’s controls to switch from idle to the new controller.

When a customer is ready to operate the drone, on their screen they will see a key as to what buttons on the keyboard will control specific drone functions. There is also a way to see a map view of where the drone is situated within the reef, and a button to take pictures with the drone to be uploaded to the Teleportal database. And as every image collected of the GBR can help in scientific research, users get credits for return missions each time they submit an image. It is a safe, easy, and inexpensive way to experience diving the GBR while helping promote scientific research.

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