15-Year-Old Develops BURT, a Turtle-Inspired Underwater Robot with Flippers
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- leaderobot.com
Evan Budz, a 15-year-old innovator, created BURT, the Bionic Underwater Robotic Turtle, inspired by a turtle's silent movement in a pond. Unlike traditional underwater drones that use noisy propellers, BURT employs flippers to glide through water without disturbing the environment, making it ideal for ecological research.
This innovation is significant as it addresses the limitations of conventional underwater drones, which can scare away fish and disrupt ecosystems. BURT's design allows for quiet operation while autonomously collecting data on ecological stress signals, such as coral bleaching and plastic pollution, using a Raspberry Pi for machine learning.
Looking ahead, BURT has already won the Best Innovation Project award at the 2025 Canada Wide Science Fair and competed internationally at the EU Contest for Young Scientists. The project highlights a critical reevaluation of how we observe nature, emphasizing the need for quieter, less intrusive methods in ecological studies.
Original report
15-Year-Old Creates Turtle-Inspired Underwater Robot Using Flippers Instead of Propellers
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