Australian researchers have created a robot to look for and destroy the crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS), wreaking havoc on the Great Barrier Reef’s coral. It is the world’s first robot designed for this purpose. According to the researchers, COTS have led to an estimated 40% of the reef’s total decline in coral cover.

Previous week, the robot, COTSbot, completed its first sea trials in Queensland’s Moreton Bay. It was carried out for testing its mechanical parts and navigation system.

Dr Matthew Dunbabin from Queensland University of Technology (QUT) has created the robot. He said that the COTSbot is well-equipped with stereoscopic cameras to give it depth perception, five thrusters for maintaining stability, GPS and pitch-and-roll sensors and a unique pneumatic injection arm for delivering a fatal dose of bile salts.

Dunbabin said, “Human divers are doing an incredible job of eradicating this starfish from targeted sites but there just aren’t enough divers to cover all the COTS hotspots across the Great Barrier Reef”.

Dunbabin added that they are seeing the COTSbot as first responder for ongoing eradication programmes that are deployed for the elimination of the bulk of COTS in any area, with divers hitting the remaining COTS a few days later.

Furthermore, he said that the COTSbot turns into a real force multiplier for the eradication process depending on how many of them are deployed. He said that an individual can imagine how much ground the programmes could cover with a fleet of 10 or 100 COTSbots at their disposal. Robots can function day and night, and are not bound to any weather conditions.