Unmanned Systems Technology 014 | Quantum Tron | Radio links and telemetry | Unmanned Aerial Vehicles | Protonex fuel cell | Ancillary systems | AUVSI 2017 Show report

18 O ut in the Caribbean there is a predator wreaking havoc on the coral reefs. The problem is so serious that a task force has been set up to deal with it, and now a group of roboticists and engineers have volunteered to help find a way to solve it. The problem in question is the lionfish. Although pretty to look at, it is a voracious feeder with no known predator in its ecosystem. It is decimating the local fish population, damaging reef ecology and local tourism, and threatening the livelihoods of local fishermen. The fish is now extending its range up the US coast as far as Rhode Island. Grappling with the issue using technology – in this case a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) – is challenging in a number of ways. Lionfish can live and breed at depths of 90 ft or more, which poses pressure and control challenges for system designers. There is also the biological problem of finding the best way to kill or capture the fish. The volunteers stepping up to the plate here are members of RISE (Robots in Service of the Environment), a non-profit making group where Orin Hoffman is chief roboticist. He says, “The Bermuda lionfish task force was talking about the potential for people to cull the lionfish at depth, which is where RISE came in. We did a lot of research on the technology but we also talked to electro-fishing experts and biologists, and as we learnt more we found that people were pretty good at mitigating the lionfish problem, they just needed some help.” The main issue is finding and catching the lionfish below 90 ft, which is outside recreational diving depths. “That means we needed to have a robot that’s affordable and easy to use to collect lionfish at such depth,” he says. Over the past year the team has tested many different technologies, from high voltages to stun the lionfish at distance Nick Flaherty talks to the chief roboticist in a team of volunteers looking to use an unmanned system to cull lionfish along the eastern seaboard of North America The hunter becomes the hunted June/July 2017 | Unmanned Systems Technology The RISE Guardian LF1 on site in Bermuda