The SlothBot conservation robot has been built by robotics engineers at the Georgia Institute of Technology to take advantage of the low-energy lifestyle of real sloths. SlothBot demonstrates how being slow can be ideal for certain applications.
SlothBot is powered by solar panels and uses innovative power management technology to moves along a cable strung between two large trees as it monitors temperature, weather, carbon dioxide levels, and other information in the Garden’s 30-acre midtown Atlanta forest.
“For the next few months, visitors to the Atlanta Botanical Garden’s Canopy Walk will be able to watch the testing of a new high-tech tool in the battle to save some of the world’s most endangered species. SlothBot is a slow-moving and energy-efficient robot that can linger in the trees to monitor animals, plants and the environment below. Built by robotics engineers at the Georgia Institute of Technology to take advantage of the low-energy lifestyle of real sloths, the solar-powered SlothBot demonstrates how being slow can be ideal for certain applications.”
“SlothBot embraces slowness as a design principle,” said Magnus Egerstedt, professor and Steve W. Chaddick School Chair in the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “That’s not how robots are typically designed today, but being slow and hyper-energy efficient will allow SlothBot to linger in the environment to observe things we can only see by being present continuously for months, or even years.”
“The most exciting goal we’ll demonstrate with SlothBot is the union of robotics and technology with conservation,” said Emily Coffey, vice president for conservation and research at the Garden. “We do conservation research on imperiled plants and ecosystems around the world, and SlothBot will help us find new and exciting ways to advance our research and conservation goals.”
For more information on the unique SlothBot conservation robot jump over to the Gatech website.
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