Starfish-killing robot to be unleashed

An autonomous robot designed to search for the invasive crown-of- thorns starfish (COTS) and give them a lethal injection, is to be deployed on the Great Barrier Reef. COTS, which prey on coral, have destroyed up to 40% of the reef over the last 30 years
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GREAT BARRIER REEF (World heritage area)

Coral Sea

AUSTRALIA QUEENSLAND

Brisbane, Moreton Bay: Field trials underway

400km 250 miles

Image recognition system Robot trained to recognise COTS from among vast range of corals using thousands of still images of reef and videos taken by divers

If robot is unsure that something is a COTS, it takes photo for human
verification. Feedback incorporated into robot’s memory banks
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COTSBOT ROBOT

GPS & communication antenna

View from above

Extended arm: Administers fatal dose of bile salts

Cameras

Thrusters

Robot operates over one metre of seafloor for up to eight hours at a time,
delivering over 200 lethal shots

COTS outbreaks due to water pollution

Starfish not to scale
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Source: Queensland University of of Technology

Picture: Getty Images

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