Underwater Coral Brick-Laying Robot AquaBrick Deployed: Coral Reef Repair 50 Times Faster

AquaBrick, jointly released by the University of Queensland Marine School and marine robotics company ReefBuilt, is an underwater robot that autonomously lays coral bricks. The robot can autonomously identify damaged coral reef areas at depths of up to 20 meters underwater, and accurately place pre-cultivated coral bricks in position, restoring the physical structure of the reef.

The core of AquaBrick is a finely controlled robotic arm system. The robot is equipped with two 7-degree-of-freedom underwater robotic arms, each capable of carrying a coral brick weighing up to 8 kilograms and completing laying actions with millimeter-level precision. The vision system uses stereo cameras and sonar fusion for positioning, capable of identifying target positions in turbid water. After laying is complete, the robot also takes verification photos of each brick to ensure structural stability.

The first deployment was at Molle Reef near Cairns on Australia's Great Barrier Reef. The ReefBuilt team deployed 6 AquaBrick robots, working with 12 divers on a four-month repair operation. AquaBrick laid a total of about 42,000 coral bricks, covering an area of 85,000 square meters, working 50 times more efficiently than human divers. Professor Peter Harrison of the University of Queensland Marine School said this robotic repair method makes large-scale coral reef restoration feasible.