Into the Muck

This article focuses on the use of aquatic robots for cleaning water bodies. Brooklyn Atlantis, a 40-pound unmanned aquatic vehicle, has been developed and used to collect gather water quality data and other info, such as pictures of oil-smeared animals or dying fish, vital for assessing the impact of environmental disasters. Brooklyn Atlantis has already made important discoveries from its data collection. With its underwater photographs of water turbidity, Brooklyn Atlantis also pinpointed sediment deposits that naturally accumulate with the canal’s water flow. The findings can inform engineers where the marsh grasses are more likely to grow and where the fish are more likely to spawn. As a result, these areas are being earmarked for a wetland reconstructions prototype. With a grant to commercialize the technology, Laut and Porfiri are actively looking to convert their project into a company that assesses environmental situations, helping to clean up and rebuild.