Mapping the Ocean Floor
In the last century, we lost 50% of coral reefs worldwide, and 90% of these vital ecosystems will disappear by 2050, primarily because of unsustainable human activities. Corals cover only 1% of the explored ocean floor but are important animals for the entire marine ecosystem. They provide food and shelter to fish and food and coastal protection to us.
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To respond to coral bleaching, MakerBay Foundation created the HK Ocean Youth Program to developed the AI CoralBot, an autonomous boat equipped with 5 cameras that can take 36,000 photos per hour to understand coral location and condition. With the aid of artificial intelligence, everyone can participate in building and improving the AI model for coral reef mapping.
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This Marine Drone can help scientists, researchers, and passionate people collect data to study this endangered animal.
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The Science behind the Project
To respond to the issue of coral bleaching, we need first to understand where the corals are located and what their condition is. A group of talented and enthusiastic professionals from the community were invited to share their ideas and contributing their skills to address this challenge.
Supported by Design Trust, MakerBay Foundation developed the CoralBot, an autonomous boat equipped with 5 cameras that can take 36,000 photos per hour. Artificial Intelligence came into the picture to label these photos and recognise different species of coral with sufficient training to the model. This will precisely establish the location of each species which will contribute to further analysis and study.