The crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) is a significant threat to coral reefs, especially in regions such as the Great Barrier Reef. This spiny starfish preys on corals, and while its consumption of coral might be natural, two factors have exacerbated its threat level: warmer oceans that enable its proliferation and its astounding reproductive rate, with a single female producing up to 200 million eggs.
To combat this menace, engineers introduced COTSBot, an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV). This robot was specifically designed to identify and exterminate COTS using a toxin derived from bile, which, while deadly to the starfish, is harmless to other marine creatures. Through advanced machine learning and computer vision, COTSBot achieved a nearly perfect identification accuracy of 99.4%.
However, there were challenges. COTSBot was relatively large and not cost-effective for large-scale deployment. Hence, its successor, RangerBot, was developed. Smaller, cheaper, and armed with a longer battery life, RangerBot doesn't just seek and destroy COTS; it can also monitor water quality, detect coral bleaching, and identify pollution, providing a comprehensive solution for preserving coral reef ecosystems.
While deploying robots to tackle environmental issues might sound unconventional, in the case of the crown-of-thorns starfish, it could be the best hope for saving our precious coral reefs.
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26 авг 2023
