KickTraq

To our 852 amazing backers - this is our penultimate update during the kickstarter funding window, and we really look forward to working with you over the next few weeks, whatever the outcome. So, that's one of two possibilities:  (i) somehow,... (Read More)

To 849 backers - 849 exceptional human beings (plus any who back us while I'm writing this update - this happened last time!).  Any last-minute 'big' backers really do seem to be leaving it until the last minute. But in the meantime there is... (Read More)

To our 831 wonderful backers. We now have a little over 40 hours left on kickstarter, and still quite a big gap to fill if we're going to make it! Well, *eventually* we'll make it, but unless very big backers are waiting until the last minute, it... (Read More)

Just a quick update as we nip past 30% target and 800 backers. First: the usual THANKS to you all. Second, we wanted to make sure you knew about the fundamental importance of biodiversity, and coral ecosystems in particular, to modern medicine. This... (Read More)

A multi-disciplinary group of scientists has formed the CoralBot collective with the aim of building robots that autonomously repair coral reefs. The systems combine machine vision technology, innovations in computing, marine biology and undersea robotics. Coral reefs support the livelihoods of almost half a billion people to the tune of 60 billion dollars in ecosystem goods and services like fisheries, coastal protection, tourism and biodiversity. Thus, the need for dealing with the threat of coral reef destruction is quite real, according to the CoralBot collective. (Read More)

Coralbots aim to be a team of robots that navigate across a damaged coral reef and transplant pieces of healthy coral in the process. (Read More)

Coral reefs are one of the world’s most important ecosystems, but they often get the shaft due to not being immediately visible at the surface. With over 500 million people worldwide dependent on their health and stability, they are a sector of nature that humanity cannot afford to lose. However, coral reefs face a number of threats from both natural and man-made sources, and if we mean to keep using them to our advantage, we have no other choice but to intervene for their survival. (Read More)

Dear Coralbots Backers, RIght now we have 731 backers (about 120 new since our last Update), and are a bit more than 27% of the way to target funding, with 11 days to go.  Our gratitude to all of our backers is boundless, of course,   and we are... (Read More)

DJG is joined by author Michael J. Sullivan, Ray Williams of the Alchemist Academy, bicyclists Aaron Latzke & David Delcourt, musical guest Seeing Blind, writer Adele David, Tom Szirtes of The Realm, DJ Jonathan Igharas, and engineer David Lane. (Read More)

I'm backing this project. Will you help too? They're suggesting a real use of swarm robotics -- a mini-Borg collective, if you will -- to do something GENUINELY GOOD for our planet. (Read More)

Edinburgh Scientists Launch Crowdfunding for Robots that Repair Coral Reefs. Coral ecosystems support around 500,000,000 people, but are severely threatened; the Coralbots team aim to revolutionize how such threats are tackled. Their Kickstarter campaign (closing May 26th) seeks individuals and corporations (Read More)

Innovation makes the world go around, so why not crowdfund it? The best thinkers and ideamakers are the those who can make collective progress, so if we support their causes, projects, and ideas, we can be a part of bettering the future of our planet. Maybe you don’t know what causes you care about yet, or maybe you’re still searching. Consider this a guide of the goodness you can get behind. Take a look at GOOD's curated Kickstarter page, which we'll be updating regularly, and check back every Saturday for a round up of our favorite projects from the crowdfunding world. (Read More)

Coral reefs support over 500 million people across the globe, but reefs are being damaged on a global scale by storms, destructive fishing, ship groundings and careless tourists. It can take many years to decades for them to heal. Coralbot team hopes to speed up the process by using scuba divers that re-attach healthy pieces of coral back onto the reef. (Read More)

Coral reefs are one of the most beautiful natural phenomena on our planet, but their purpose goes far beyond visual enjoyment. Did you know that coral reefs provide a living for over 500 million people across the globe? The coral community is really a system that includes a collection of biological communities, representing one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world. But like many other ecosystems on this planet, the coral is in dire danger of disappearing. (Read More)

Our CoralBots team have been very busy in the media the last week, and we have our Kickstarter backers and supporters to thank! Catch a podcast from our very own Professor David Lane (our undersea autonomous robotics engineer) on DJ Grandpa’s Crib... (Read More)

POSSIBLY BECAUSE THEY don’t have much travel-brochure cachet, the coral reefs in the deep seas around Scotland haven’t attracted the same kinds of conservation efforts as their more diveable cousins. That’s unfortunate, because these are exactly the types of reefs that tend to get destroyed by ships trawling for deepwater fish. But while trawlers can thoroughly dismantle reefs, they don’t necessarily kill the remaining bits of coral—which is where marine biologist Lea-Anne Henry of Edinburgh’s Heriot-Watt University comes in. She and her team (which includes a “swarm intelligence” mathematician) think they might be able to repair the reefs using robots trained to reattach broken coral the same way bees build hives. (Read More)

As I write, we have 560 astounding backers and are a little way past 21% of target funding. In this update (apart from the usual heartfelt THANKS to you all), we just wanted to let you know of some upcoming media exposure for coralbots,  tell you... (Read More)

More often than not when sites like ours look at Kickstarter projects, it's all about the toys, either real or virtual. But this one's mightily altruistic, seeking to create a marriage of high-tech robotics and environmental conservation and repair. The Coral-bots project aims to build a swarm of robots that are capable of intelligently navigating across a reef, repairing and transplanting coral as they go. In the words of the team: (Read More)

Scientists developing a robot to repair coral reefs around the world have turned to crowd-sourcing website Kickstarter to raise funds. (Read More)

The Coral-bots project is trying to put robots to work on saving our coral reefs (Read More)

A new Kickstarter campaign hopes to fund autonomous underwater robots that will repair dying coral reefs. (Read More)

Right now we have 55 backers and are just over 1.5% funded - long way to go, but we are so grateful to all of you and we really can't thank you enough. Please check  back on the project page now and then as we post FAQs answers - there is one there... (Read More)

Heriot-Watt University's Coralbot Project aims to assist in repairing damaged reefs with the use of swarms of intelligent robots. (Read More)

A team at Herriot-Watt University’s Centre for Marine Biodiversity and Biotechnology has launched a Kickstarter campaign to help it develop coralbots that... (Read More)