Innovation project: Kelpsea

What is Kelpsea?

Kelpsea is a waterproof robot that farms kelp in order to reduce ocean acidity

Keep reading to learn about our creative process, more about ocean acidity, why it is such a big problem, and more about the robot we created in order to solve it.

Our Problem

Ocean acidification is detrimental to our environment and causes extensive harm to our ocean ecosystems

• Shells and exoskeletons of countless animals including oysters, clams, and coral reefs, to disintegrate, making sustaining their shells a difficult task for these animals; therefore, studying their behavior and patterns might not be reliable under previous circumstances.
• Coral reefs are dying at alarming rates and at this pace it is predicted that a significant portion of coral reefs will become extinct by 2050 because of this. Not only is our ocean at risk, but one of its core habitats that is vital for study due to its biodiversity.
• Changing water temperatures cause changing migration patterns, making it hard for divers to find and learn about certain species.

Our Solution

Kelpsea is a crab-shaped waterproof robot made using the material used in Argo Floats, machines designed to observe the ocean. Using a 2-step system:

• It collects kelp seeds from the boat it is released from and spreads them across the ocean floor.
• After the kelp grows, before it dies and releases the CO2 back into the ocean, Kelpsea cuts the kelp with its claws. Eventually, the boat comes back to pick up the kelp.

The benefits of using Kelpsea:

• Kelp can absorb up to 20 times the amount of CO2 as trees.
• We can sell the kelp to seaweed companies or spas to fund the operation.
• We can donate the remaining kelp to hospitals for better bleeding treatments.

Our Impact

The Kelpsea robot is designed to make a significant positive impact on ocean ecosystems by combating ocean acidification. By efficiently planting and harvesting kelp, we aim to:

• Reduce CO2 levels in the ocean, helping to restore pH balance.
• Support the recovery of marine life, including shell-forming organisms and coral reefs.
• Promote biodiversity by re-establishing healthy kelp forests, which serve as crucial habitats.
• Restore previous migration patterns
• Provide a sustainable source of kelp for various industries, creating a circular economy.

By allowing the ocean to thrive, we help researchers do their jobs more accurately, without worrying about strange behaviors displayed by thin-shelled oysters or constantly-changing migration patterns.

Iterations

Many ideas arose and countless debates were held before we were able to pick our topic and even regarding our topic:

• The main competitor against Kelpsea was an AI fish that would use advanced AI to pretend to be a fish of a certain species, track that species by following their remains and once they found the species, collect data on their behavior and find ocean wonders to protect.
• After heated debates we determined that despite its innovative appeal, the AI fish would be too advanced for our time, so we favored Kelpsea.
• We determined it would be either a kelp farm or kelp farmer; debates led to farmer.
• After all that we named it Kelpsea because at that time it was supposed to farm kelp and seaweed (now it only farms kelp) and began the research for this project.

Our iterations and ideas have helped us form every aspect of our project through constructive criticism, debates, teamwork, and compromise.

Scientists we met with

Lisa Becking

The first scientist we consulted was Lisa Becking, a marine biologist who works in the field of tropical underwater creatures. She presented us with a few key points of improvement:

• Before putting anything in the water, we needed to know that it was completely safe with the creatures around it.
• We need to check the water's conditions, for example, temperature that we needed to be aware of in order to make sure the robot was safe.

Lisa's advice led us to search for a sturdy, yet light material that would work for the robot and led to our robot design as a crab.

Brian Mailloux

The second scientist we communicated with was Brian Mailloux, an environmental scientist who consulted with us on materials and helped us find a material that would work for us.

• Helped us pick out the final material, a strong material that has proven itself in the field and is the foundation of Argo Floats.
• Suggested the idea we later accepted of having a waterproof seal.

Brian's comments were vital and contributed greatly to our end product of a sturdy, waterproof robot.

Both Brian and Lisa's comments helped us create our robot, and without their feedback, we wouldn't have had the sturdy, waterproof, fish-friendly bot that we are presenting here.