The Singapore authorities will start using swan robots to monitor water quality in five local reservoirs, Channel News Asia reported.

SWAN (Smart Water Assessment Network) robots, reminiscent of white long-necked birds, were developed by specialists from several institutes in Singapore with the participation of the Water Resources Agency and passed the first tests as early as 2014, and in 2016 the test program was successfully completed. Robots are equipped with two motors and sensors to obtain data on water quality in reservoirs, including information on acidity level, oxygen content, transparency and chlorophyll content.

At present, water analysis is carried out simply by collecting water samples from boats, but this requires human resources, and the delivery of samples takes time, which can be critical in the event of an emergency situation and the need for rapid response. Robots will be able to send data in real time and will operate in an autonomous mode under the supervision of the operator.

Note that this is not the first development of its kind. Last summer, a group of engineers from the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne (EPFL) developed a snake-like or eel-like robot designed to monitor the purity of water and to find sources of its pollution. The robot length of about one and a half meters consists of several modules, each of which is equipped with a motor. In addition, pollution and temperature sensors can be installed in some modules.

hitech.newsru.com