Robot designed to eradicate coral-killing starfish

BBC : The crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) has become known as the scourge of the Great Barrier Reef because it preys on the reef’s living coral and is responsible for 40% of the reef’s total decline in coral cover. Although human divers have been working to eradicate it, there are not enough of them to control the growing COTS population. Now Matthew Dunbabin of the Queensland University of Technology has developed a robot to do the job. Equipped with stereoscopic cameras, thrusters, sensors, and GPS, the so-called COTSbot swims within a meter of the sea floor, uses its state-of-the-art computer vision to seek out the starfish, and injects them with a fatal dose of bile salts. Although the robot is not as adept at the task as a human, it can work day and night and in all weather conditions. The COTSbot is being tested in the field to evaluate its detection system. Over the next five months, it will slowly be allowed to function more autonomously until it is deemed ready for full deployment.