COTSBot is a smallautonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) 4.5 feet (1.4 m) long, which is designed byQueensland University of Technology (QUT) to kill the very destructivecrown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci) in theGreat Barrier Reef off the north-east coast of Australia. It identifies its target using an image-analyzingneural net to analyze what an onboard camera sees, and then lethally injects the starfish with abile salt solution using a needle on the end of a long underslung foldable arm.[1]
COTSBot usesGPS to navigate.[2][3][4] The first version was created in the early 2000s with an accuracy rate of about 65%. After training COTSBot withmachine learning, its accuracy rate rose to 99% by 2019.[1]
COTSBot is capable of killing 200 crown-of-thorns starfish with its two liters capacity of poison. COTSBot is capable of performing about 20 runs per day, but multiple COTSBots will be necessary to significantly impact the crown of thorns starfish populations.[1]
A smaller version of COTSBot called "RangerBot" is also being developed by QUT.[5]
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