Deploying Microlander at Car-Y-Mor

At the end of March, PEBL had the privilege of heading out to Car-Y-Mor’s sea farm off the Pembrokeshire coast for a round of equipment testing and field experimentation. Among the key objectives of this trip was trialling some new light configurations for SubCam to improve night-time footage—part of our broader mission to enhance around-the-clock monitoring. However, the main highlight of this journey was the first live deployment of new underwater frame design: the Microlander.

Over the years, we’ve tested many rigs to keep our cameras steady and focused in the unpredictable conditions of the sea. Stability, durability, and ease-of-use have always been critical, but finding a solution that ticks all those boxes—and is also affordable and portable—has been a real challenge. Commercial options often came with high price tags, weren’t easy to assemble in the field, or required specialist parts that are hard to replace at short notice.

The Microlander is a low-cost, modular, and highly adaptable frame that can be assembled in under 10 minutes and built entirely from parts sourced at local metal suppliers—for less than £150. All pipe sections are made from standard 50mm galvanised steel, which can be ordered from most online or local metal stores—many of which will cut the lengths to size. The only tool required for assembly is an Allen key, and we apply a dab of Loctite to each clamping screw to ensure the joints don’t loosen due to vibrations during deployment or retrieval.

Our standard Microlander frame consists of:

• 12 × 400mm tube sections

• 4 × 90-degree elbow fittings

• 4 × 3-way corner fittings

• 4 × T-fittings

For projects that need more mounting flexibility, we also include an optional center cross-bar and vertical post, allowing for finer adjustment or additional equipment:

• 3 × T-fittings

• 1 × 400mm tube (cross-bar)

• 1 × 320mm tube (vertical post)
  

Microlander is a simple and flexible set-up, with plenty of space to mount whatever custom suite of monitoring equipment a project needs, whilst protecting equipment inside its frame structure and also being easy to handle by hand.

For more details on Microlander itself, or the set-up we employed to prevent bouy-induced lift, check out the deck above.

Christian and Craig successfully sent Microlander on its inagural deployment at Car-Y-Mor and we're all excited to see what it comes back with!