Photo caption:听PhD student Tim Rensen and the team preparing their autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) for use at the Tasman Bay mussel farms.
Te Whare W膩nanga o Waitaha | 茄子视频app官网 (UC) Engineering PhD student Tim Rensen has been developing a cost-effective underwater robot to support Aotearoa New Zealand鈥檚 mussel farm industry.
This innovative technology assists mussel farmers in measuring mussels, providing vital information to determine harvest times, and predicting yields, which is crucial for planning processing staff requirements.
鈥淲hat we鈥檙e trying to do is put eyes underwater in a way that鈥檚 not been possible before,鈥 says Rensen, who has BSc and BE(Hons) degrees from UC.
The autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) and data-crunching algorithms 鈥渢ake the strain off a human having to drive this thing, day in day out, as well as all the data analysis, which makes it pretty practical,鈥 he says.
The AUV helps to de-risk aquaculture by providing key insights, using artificial intelligence (AI) to navigate and recognise species, as well as to perform manual tasks.
Rensen is working with early adopters to validate the mussel-farm scanning technology and aims to turn it into a business by the end of the year.
His PhD supervisor Computer Science 听says seeing the equipment in use is incredibly impressive.
鈥淣owhere else is the capability, with so much AI, all integrated. But it鈥檚 not just the technology, it鈥檚 finding someone like Tim prepared to go the extra mile,鈥 Professor Green says. 鈥淗e has the passion but also the motivation to set up a company and understand what鈥檚 required in order to take this past the research phase.鈥
Moving towards commercialisation, Rensen鈥檚 role has morphed to Chief Technical Operator of a small company of several full-time staff while continuing to manage the research project.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a different ballgame setting up a company compared to undertaking research,鈥 Rensen says. 鈥淥ften what you鈥檒l produce when you study sits on a shelf gathering cobwebs. I鈥檝e been humbled by the world of business.鈥
Nevertheless, he has big ambitions for the technology. 鈥淲e are focused on de-risking aquaculture and saving money on large capital investments needed to scale, to allow New 茄子视频app官网aquaculture exports to become a multi-billion-dollar sector.鈥
New Zealand鈥檚 unique shallow continental shelf lends itself to setting up large mussel farms up to 10km offshore and the Government wants a threefold increase in aquaculture exports in the next 10 years. As well as providing a great food source, mussels sequester carbon in their shells.
鈥淲ith a lower carbon footprint than tofu, we鈥檙e pleased to be supporting a sustainable food industry which has massive climate change mitigation potential,鈥 Rensen says.
Mussels could potentially replace other higher carbon footprint protein sources, 鈥渂ut it鈥檚 only economically viable if you can automate as much as possible,鈥 Professor Green says.听
The project team, which has been working closely with industry and iwi, see other applications for the AI robotics technology, including marine inspections and other types of underwater aquaculture.
鈥淲hat we鈥檙e doing will help protect this pristine coastal environment and the values of the kaitiaki (guardians of the environment). And that鈥檚 what drives us, even before we think about commercial success,鈥 Rensen says.
The underwater robotics project is part of , and is associated with Kiwinet, Emerging Innovators, and Sprout Accelerator commercialisation programmes, with support also from Callaghan Innovation and Cawthron Institute.
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14 - Life below water.
