Monitoring pollution with swan robots in Singapore

Researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) used NUSwan, a swan-shaped robotic team, on lakes to monitor water quality in urban areas.

Singapore monitors pollution with swan robots

Science alert yesterday reported that NUSwan was designed to run smoothly in water environment and not affect the activity of aquatic organisms. They will continuously collect water samples at a lower cost and a higher level of efficiency than other automated technologies.

Swan-shaped robot saves time and costs of collecting water samples.(Photo: NUS.)

"We started with some smaller bird-shaped robots before choosing swans. It's the most suitable size ," said Mandar Chitre, the project leader.

Each NUSwan robot is equipped with a GPS locator to properly monitor the water area and monitor the location of specimen collection. When the battery ran out, the swans were programmed to move to the charging place.

NUSwan can operate under human remote control, but is designed to operate automatically everywhere.Robots will measure pH, chlorophyll, oxygen concentration and turbidity, then upload data to cloud storage over wireless networks.

Despite its delicate appearance, the swan robot is durable enough to withstand any toxic waste or collide with small boats.

"We have seen the potential to apply NUSwan in Singapore's lakes and coastal areas. With data from the cloud storage, collaborators can share, gather data and learn phenomena. globally, " Chitre shares.