RangerBot is the world’s first vision-based underwater robotic system designed specifically for coral reef environments. Its unique design and intuitive user interface provides coral reef mangers, researchers, and community groups with a targeted, affordable and reconfigurable solution for upscaling monitoring and management of reef ecosystems worldwide.

According to The Great Barrier Reef Foundation, climate change is the greatest threat facing the reef. The growing combination of rising water temperatures, poorer water quality from sediment run-off and pollution, as well as more severe cyclones and crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks, are just some of the threats creating a perfect storm for our reef and the iconic animals that depend on it. One of the threats also includes the Crown-Of-Thorns Starfish, since when the coral-eating starfish appear in outbreak proportions, the impact on coral reefs can be disastrous. Controlling those is just one of the challenges the Rangerbot helps tackle.

The Rangerbot will provide reef managers, researchers and community groups with extra ‘hands and eyes’ in the water to: control pests like the Crown-Of-Thorns Starfish; monitor reef health indicators like coral bleaching and water quality, and map expansive underwater areas at scales not previously possible. The project will take a quantum technology leap to create the only fully autonomous, affordable, multi-function solution for effectively detecting and addressing threats to coral reefs.