Starfish-killing robot close to trials on Great Barrier Reef.

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. Field trials of the robot have begun in Moreton Bay in Brisbane to refine its navigation system, Queensland University of of Technology researcher Matthew Dunbabin told the BBC. There are no crown-of-thorns starfish in Moreton Bay but once the navigation has been refined, the robot will be unleashed on the reef. "Later this month we begin deploying the robot in the Great Barrier Reef to evaluate our state-of-the-art vision-based crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) detection system," he said. "Over the next five months we plan to progressively increase the level of autonomy the robot is allowed, leading to autonomous detection and injection of the starfish." The technology has two key components - an image recognition system and the robot submersible. "The core of the detection is a state-of-the-art computer vision and machine learning system," Mr Dunbabin said. "This system has been trained to recognise COTS [crown-of-thorns starfish] from among a vast range of corals using thousands of still images of the reef and videos taken by COTS-eradicating divers." Since the 1960s, the movement of nutrients from the land into the sea has meant that starfish numbers are growing and destroying large areas of reef, the researchers said.
www.bbc.co.uk...

Is this the first time we will have let a autonomous killing robot out into the wild?

Some might say it is only starfish, but i find the idea disturbing.

How long till we are using killer robots for all kinds of culling?

a reply to: joho99

While I'm not terrified, I will admit this makes me a bit uneasy.

Also, what's in the lethal injection? Is it lethal to other creatures (humans, perhaps)?

Yep, this seems like a really bad idea.

Why are we always trying to "fix" everything? Because doesn't seem like we do more harm than good when we do?

There are all kinds of wrong happening when human beings think that we need to somehow balance out nature...and by using killing robots, no less.

a reply to: chiefsmom

Like the time we had the brilliant idea using discarded tires to create an artifical reef? That sure worked out well.

I am praying to Jesus and the Sweet Baby Jesus at this very moment that they make this robot look like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

and man said, let us be God!

bad news bears

I agree with SlapMonkey's post

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Or maybe a Dalek.

'Ex-star-minate!'

a reply to: joho99

That reminds me of the "Hound" or whatever it was called in Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451." Times are indeed changing.

I imagine there must be a huge difference in terms of the technical challenges involved between a slow moving submersible that finds and lethally injects a non-moving target that it has taken forever to learn to recognize, and an army of faster-than-human machines that can track down specific humans and kill them despite fleeing, resistance, counterattack, and tactical creativity.

That said, I do feel it sets a precedent that I'd be lying if I said wasn't a tad disturbing.

Peace.

a reply to: joho99

So can you tell us a bit about those starfish and the threat that they pose? Why are they choosing robots over divers?




Is this just a thread about fearing robots?

originally posted by: chiefsmom
Yep, this seems like a really bad idea.

Why are we always trying to "fix" everything? Because doesn't seem like we do more harm than good when we do?

We have bleached and practically destroyed the Great Barrier Reef, the worlds largest living organism. And it was so beautiful, ask Nemo

I like the idea of a robot, previously in Australia they introduced scarab beetles, toads etc to control a previously imported by humans eco destroyer. They have ended up as plagues.

Robot is good news. It has no AI we can turn it off.

a reply to: Grimpachi
This thread is not really about the star fish.

It is about humans for the first time releasing robots that are designed to kill into the wild.

I think that is noteworthy, and a disturbing precedent.

And you would have to ask how far this could go?

a reply to: joho99

Honestly it seems your just fear mongering then.


carry on.

a reply to: AceWombat04

Russia has developed a robot that patrols nuclear sites, and apparently can make the decision to kill on its own.

That would fit some of the criteria i should imagine.

OH BOY!!!!!

I wonder when they will start using these on people.

I wonder which race is prepping for a genocide with this.

a reply to: joho99

isn't this how the terminator started?

one small step for starfish, one giant leap to mankind

a reply to: joho99

Weird, it seems that starfish on the west coast of U.S. are pulling themselves apart in droves.

I can understand the drive to tame this world and shape it to our will, it is what has lead us to this point in time and space. As the industrial age is take over by the information age, the amount of energy that can be stored and released at the push of a button is increasing. As there is so much we do not know about this, of course it is going to be naturally scary. The situation is this is the jungle we are now living in.

Run away Patrick.......he is coming for you . Go find Sandy.....