Robot swans patrol Singapore’s reservoirs, hunting pollution. PHOTO: CoExist

The  National University of Singapore has deployed robot swans to swim around water reservoirs and keep an eye on water quality. Presently, monitoring Singapore’s reservoirs is done by humans in boats, which is impractical, slow and not very scaleable. The NUSwan can swim tirelessly, continually testing pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity (cloudiness) and chlorophyll. The results are transmitted wirelessly back to researchers, the GPS-equipped swans sweep the lake without duplicating any already-tested spots, and they automatically return to base for recharging when batteries run low.

The NUSwans are tough enough not to break if they get a whack from a wayward oar or suffer a kayak collision, and upgrades are already planned. The addition of phosphate sensors, which the university has prototyped itself due to a lack of commercial availability, will let the NUSwan check for algal blooms, which can choke water ecosystems.

Read more on how NUSwan can be adapted for other countries here.