Robots in Service of the Environment

Environmental issues have not been a priority till the last century when the impact of human activity has been observed on the environment. We have only one planet and for us to survive as a race, we need to ensure that the planet does not become a hostile place incapable of supporting life.

Human beings are becoming more aware of the limits that they have in order to look after the environment and new measures are constantly being explored to aid the cause. One such measure is to use robots where it is difficult for humans to work. A non profit agency called Robots in Service of the Environment or RSE is trying to do just this.

This year in April, RSE used crowd funding to launch a prototype robot. The aim of the robot is to capture lionfish, which are detrimental to coral reefs. Lionfish have the ability to reduce fish biomass on a reef by 80% in just one month, this causes coral reefs to die. The robot called Guardian LF1,  operates underwater to stun and capture lionfish ten at a time. It can work between 80 to 400 feet below sea level with ease and hauls the fish it has caught to the surface.

The robot costs less than a thousand dollars to construct and has two main parts. An underwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV) with an innovative capture mechanism, tethered to a remote surface control station. This science project is proving that it is much more effective to send in the robot than sending in humans to do the job.