XINHUA – A team from Australia’s national science agency has developed a soft robotic hand that they say could offer a groundbreaking approach to coral reef restoration.
The hand, or gripper, was developed by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Organisation (CSIRO) to be attached to a coral farming robot, the Coral Husbandry Automated Raceway Machine (CHARM).
The robot was developed by non-governmental organisation the Beyond Coral Foundation to automate the delicate, labour-intensive and time-consuming process of cultivating baby corals in laboratory settings.
CSIRO soft robotics scientist Josh Pinskier said that the gripper replicates the dexterity of a human hand, allowing it to handle delicate coral tissue, and is strong enough to lift various sizes. “Cultivating hundreds or thousands of baby coral colonies in the lab demands significant effort and precise handling,” he said in a media release yesterday.
“By automating this process, we can contribute to broader global efforts to scale coral farming and help restore the world’s reefs.”
The CSIRO team used artificial intelligence-powered generative design algorithms to identify the optimal structures for the grippers to safely and effectively handle coral.
They were 3D printed from a hard polymer and soft rubber to avoid the corrosion in saltwater suffered by traditional robotics.
CHARM Inventor Stephen Rodan from the Beyond Coral Foundation said the project marks the first time in history that a robot apparatus has picked up coral and safely transferred it between tanks.
