Underwater Robot Exhibited At Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium

Today an underwater robot designed to explore and research coral reefs was unveiled at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. The collaborative effort between the organization, ReefBot and Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute will become part of a long-term interactive children's exhibit.

Visitors to the aquarium will pilot CLEO, the underwater robot, around the Open Oceans fish tank and gain close-up views of marine life. Users will help teach CLEO how to identify fish by taking pictures with CLEO's cameras and matching them with pictures of fish stored in the ReefBot database. The information that visitors gather with CLEO will eventually be used to identify reef fish in the wild as part of ReefBot's ocean conservation work.

ReefBot is the first underwater robotic exhibit of its kind and it is more than a fancy toy for aquarium visitors. The exhibit will also teach visitors about ocean exploration and conservation. Most importantly, ReefBot technology will assist in identifying at-risk fish and coral populations, in an effort to help curtail the destruction of the world's coral reef ecosystems.

The groundbreaking ReefBot exhibit will be on display at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium for the next several years.