![[H]ard|Forum](/styles/hardforum/xenforo/logo_dark.png){kind=logo}
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2018
- Messages
- 1,713
Students at Worcester Polytechnic Institute are developing an autonomous, underwater robot capable of hunting and harvesting Lionfish. Robots designed to hunt invasive species are nothing new, but up until now, they've all required a tether with a human operator on the other end, limiting their range and practicality. The robot designed by the undergrads is capable of identifying Lionfish using an array of sensors backed by machine learning-derived computer vision algorithms. It can then spear the fish with one of its 8 attached spears, and bring them to the surface, all without a tether or human interaction. This coming year, another team is tasked with refining the robot's navigation system, which would allow the machine to navigate a 3D search grid as it hunts for Lionfish.
"There are economic and environmental benefits to this, and the fish are delicious," said Kelly, who focused on the robot's computer vision system. "I've seen the massive devastation caused by these fish and it really made me want to work on this project. We felt like we could create some change in the world."
"There are economic and environmental benefits to this, and the fish are delicious," said Kelly, who focused on the robot's computer vision system. "I've seen the massive devastation caused by these fish and it really made me want to work on this project. We felt like we could create some change in the world."
