BURT is an AI-powered robot designed to monitor the aquatic environment. (Image Credit: Youth Science Canada/Evan Budz)
Sea turtles are one of the most majestic creatures in the ocean. For Evan Budz, a 15-year-old high school student in Burlington, Ontario, Canada, it became a source of inspiration for his robot designed for aquatic environment exploration. The AI-powered Bionic Underwater Robotic Turtle (BURT) swims underwater to collect data and monitor it for ecological threats.
Budz studied the locomotion of a turtle before developing his underwater robot. By speaking to experts at the nearby aquarium and watching sea turtles swim on video, he learned the front flippers allow the turtles to move forward, while their back legs are used for navigating. He also created a prototype in SolidWorks and developed the 3D parts.
The entire system runs on a Raspberry Pi microcomputer encased within an acrylic tube. It also executes AI models designed to record/transmit data and identify environmental hazards. On a single charge, BURT swims for eight hours at 0.5 miles per hour. And with a solar panel mounted, the robot can extend its swimming time. Budz can make it go faster by adjusting the flipper oscillation frequency.
Like a live turtle, BURT features four flippers. Two of them at the front generate thrust, while the ones in the back are for navigation and stability. Onboard sensors, like a GPS module for location tracking, help the robot move around the water. A front camera allows BURT to visualize what’s going on in its environment, and all this data is sent to the Raspberry Pi. Other exterior sensors provide depth control and detect bleached coral and microplastics.
Budz also used 3D models to simulate a coral reef and trained his robot turtle to recognize coral bleaching and invasive species. BURT then swims around them via a predetermined search pattern to simulate its behavior in a real-world environment. In tests, the robot detected replicated coral bleaching with 96% accuracy.
Next, the creator plans to introduce BURT into diverse environments to measure the robot’s operational depth. Additionally, the front of the robot has lights for murky waters and an ultrasonic transducer that detects obstacles in its path. He also created a holographic imaging device that captures the structural features and shapes of microscopic particles in waterways. A custom-trained neural network then determines whether or not a particle is a microplastic.
Budz even won first place in 2025 at the European Union Contest for Young Scientists and the Canada-Wide Science Fair. He also envisions deploying fleets of these turtle robots for aquatic ecosystem monitoring and ecological threat identification. While he’s already used it for coral bleaching, invasive species, and microplastics, he believes it can be adapted for many other uses.
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