Starfish-killing robot close to trials on Great Barrier Reef

[bananas]

Source: BBC

An autonomous starfish-killing robot is close to being ready for trials on the Great Barrier Reef, researchers say.

Crown-of-thorns starfish have have been described as a significant threat to coral.

The Cotsbot robot, which has a vision system, is designed to seek out starfish and give them a lethal injection.

After it eradicates the bulk of starfish in a given area, human divers can move in and mop up the survivors.

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Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-34129490

[4bucksagallon]

1. The only thing I have found worse than stepping on crown of thorns....

is stepping on a sea urchin. I have done both. They are both painful.. Then of course there are the jellyfish stings which feel like small electric shocks, fortunately no box jellies have been encountered yet. This is great news but the starfish has a big lead and the coral is taking a beating.

[TexasBushwhacker]

9. Part of the reason there's so many COT

is they used to cut them up and throw the pieces back in the water. I guess they didn't learn in high school biology that starfish regenerate. Cut one into 4 pieces and they'll grow into 4 starfish!

[Spitfire of ATJ]

2. An autonomous killing robot that uses injections?

I'm sure there's nothing to worry about.

[PosterChild]

7. Nothing at all, after all...

,.. it has a "kill switch ".

[SCVDem]

3. Cue the Terminator jokes.

Today the COTS, tomorrow, THE WORLD!!

Bwa Ha Ha Ha!

Once the tech is solved, the rest is just tooling and aesthetics.

(Seriously, I wish them well. Maybe an Asian Carp version?)

[enough]

4. Let's hope somebody has given some thought to what happens to the lethal chemicals

after they have killed the starfish. It sounds obvious, but the way things are going these days, it's not obvious that the next step in the chain has actually been studied.

[Raster]

6. Monsanto assures everyone that their new StarFish RoundUp-R- is absolutely safe.

And if you can't trust Monsanto, who can you trust, eh?

[Brother Buzz]

10. The lethal chemicals are bile salts

Specifically, sodium cholate and sodium deoxycholate, whatever the hell they are. Here's the study conducted prior to using bile salts for widespread use in Australia:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0964569114002658


Highlights:

Injecting Acanthaster planci with bile salts is the most rapid and effective way to kill A. planci.

No flow-on effects on reef fish, corals, and other benthic invertebrates were observed.

[mathematic]

5. Nuclear powered, no doubt.

[Recursion]

8. If there's a nuclear reactor that small, that's much bigger news than this

Most autonomous submersibles use lithium ion cells.

[jmowreader]

11. Radioisotope thermal generators aren't very big

It would be more logical to use rechargeable batteries, tho; you will have to put more anti-starfish fluid in it, and that'd be the perfect time to put in a freshly-charged battery.

[Recursion]

13. Then again I suppose you could say every power source is "ultimately" nuclear

RIT is an interesting technology, though I think it kind of straddles a gray area of what is or isn't "nuclear".

[jmowreader]

12. Why am I reminded...

of the Mechanical Hound in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451?