Siren lures AMGC co-funding with dual-lens fishing cam
Siren Cameras will take the personal sports cameras to new depths, reeling in a co-funding grant from the Federal Government’s Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre (AMGC). The $356,500 co-funded project will develop a local manufacturing capability for the company’s buoyant, dual-lens, smart fishing camera which is destined for local and export markets.
Siren Cameras, in collaboration with its Australian project partners, has designed and patented a bespoke dual-lens floating action camera to document the ‘one that got away’ as the anglers’ struggles to reel in their game. Given the camera’s position at the top of the line, Siren’s solution reduces the fish’s visual deterrent to taking bait, while a novel attachment function reduces the risk of camera loss.
Unlike products currently available on market, Siren’s novel attachment design means the buoyant camera does not need to be tied to the fishing line. Siren’s unit clips over the line and reduces the chance of loss due to the line snapping between the camera and fishing rod, ensuring the camera is not carried away by game in the event of a line breakage.
Once a fish has taken the bait, the angler attaches the Siren camera to the fishing line with a simple clip attachment, whereupon the camera slides down the line before settling on the surface due to its buoyancy, with one camera submerged and the other pointing back towards the angler. This offers recreational anglers a radical new perspective of their fishing experiences, with its dual-facing lens views delivering never seen before insights through video content.
Director and Co-founder of Siren Cameras, Phil West, said the fishing camera was developed following a fruitless deep-sea fishing trip.
“For fifteen minutes I tussled with something, then the line snapped and of course the day was dominated by stories of the ‘one that got away’. This was where it all began for Siren and spurred a brainstorming session between my brother-in-law and myself about how to prove that the day’s experience was more than a tall tale.
“We started from scratch in an industry we knew nothing about. Collaboration with Australian designers, engineers and AMGC has resulted in a product with more functions than we thought possible – this would have been impossible for us to achieve alone.” Said West.
Besides capturing and sharing footage, the Wi-Fi App will collect Fish species, GPS, water temperature, date and time information. Over a long enough period of time, data collected by Siren has the potential to create new revenue streams through customer insights and information on marine resources and fish stocks.
Managing Director of the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre, Dr Jens Goennemann, said Siren’s product demonstrates the importance of seeking assistance outside your area of expertise.
“Collaboration is a powerful tool in business and even more so in manufacturing. Siren’s early desire to seek assistance from area experts resulted in a product that is far more powerful than the initial idea, offers greater value and, importantly, global potential,” said Dr Goennemann.
“Siren’s dual-lens camera is more than just a camera for a fisherman, it has the potential to support conservation efforts and generate a revenue stream beyond the initial sale by collating and selling data to manage fish stocks – it’s a win for the fishermen and sustainable fisheries management alike.” said Goennemann.
Product enhancements during the design process have allowed Siren Cameras to investigate the support of fishing sustainability causes and the company has developed an innovative environmental sustainability use for the product in the form of a mobile App. The App can transmit the video footage through Wi-Fi and collect vital data simultaneously.
The Wi-Fi connected fishing App being developed by Siren Cameras will provide robust data sets to overcome the inadequate information currently impeding the rational control of marine resources and will assist with a better understanding of fish stock levels, trends, migration patterns, and health, among other indicators.
Upon completion of the project, it is anticipated that Siren will sell over 2.8 million units over the first 10-years of trade while generating numerous local jobs across the supply chain.
For further details of the project, partner organisations and funding arrangements visit – https://www.amgc.org.au/project/manufacture-of-dual-lens-fishing-camera/
