Introducing Our Exciting New Project!
The Pioneering AI 4 CORALS
The aim of Reefscapers’ coral propagation program is to help corals repopulate the reef faster after massive bleaching events, so it is ready to deal with the next one. Indeed, as big El Niño events increase due to climate change, the corals might soon not have enough time to recover between successive events.
To improve the efficiency of our coral propagation mission and make it more feasible on a large scale, we need to better understand how corals grow.
As we learn which parameters are best for coral growth, we can increase the survival rate of our transplanted colonies, and improve the impact of our work and resources.
This is why we have been taking monitoring pictures of our frames, every 6 months from when they are first placed; this, however, represents a huge amount of work, which quickly limits the number of colonies we can transplant.
To bypass these limitations, we are building an autonomous catamaran that will take the pictures for us. Using solar energy exclusively, it will drive around our islands using GPS and cameras to navigate its way to our frames.
Using the latest advances in robotics, a Pixhawk autopilot will control the propellers, and send the catamaran to the points commanded by an onboard navigation computer (Raspberry Pi). This lightweight computer will be in charge of processing the live video feed to identify the catamaran’s surroundings. Along with the GPS signal, this will allow very precise location management, which will be essential to monitor objects as small as a coral frame.
This device will allow us to collect more pictures than before to grow our database faster and more efficiently, while opening the door to advanced artificial intelligence analyses.
We also plan to share the design and software with other scientists who may use it to conduct surveys, similar monitoring missions, or adapt it to their own specific needs.
To help save the coral reefs, we are putting robots and artificial intelligence to work …
… and we need YOUR HELP!
Welcome to the future of reef restoration, we couldn’t do it without you!
Thank you for your continued support.