Ontario teens invent robot to help protect coastlines

When Stefan Teodorescu’s aunt returned from a trip to the Pacific islands, one memory stuck with her: she described for Teodorescu the labour-intensive process of volunteers manually planting mangrove seeds to combat coastal erosion.

The repetitive nature of the task, combined with the role mangroves play in climate adaptation, inspired Teodorescu to find a way to automate the process.

As coastal erosion worsens due to climate change, 19-year-old Teodorescu, a first-year aerospace student at Carleton University, has applied his passion for robotics and engineering to develop “Mangrover,” an autonomous robot designed to address the pressing issue of shoreline erosion. Partnering with his high school classmate, Oscar Barbieri, Teodorescu created a robot that plants mangrove trees that serve as natural barriers to protect coastlines from rising seas. Their project earned them top honours at the Canadian World Robotics Olympiad, and now, Teodorescu is taking his solution to the international stage at the WRO competition in Turkey. 

Rising sea levels and intensified storms, driven by climate change, are rapidly eroding tropical shorelines. Mangroves can help, Teodorescu said.

“First, they protect vulnerable coastal communities from erosion. Second, they act as powerful carbon sinks, absorbing significantly more carbon than typical temperate trees.”

A new global assessment by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) reveals that more than half of the world’s mangrove ecosystems are at risk of collapse by 2050, with nearly 20 per cent facing a high risk due to deforestation, pollution and climate change.

But replanting them is labour-intensive and costly. Seeds must be planted on flat, sandy surfaces in grids with 50 cm spacing.

Barbieri designed the autonomous algorithms, while Teodorescu handled the mechanical design and electronics. Together, they built a four-wheeled rover capable of planting seeds fully autonomously on the sandy shore.

The Mangrover robot operates by systematically planting mangrove seeds within a GPS geofenced target area—a virtual boundary defined by GPS coordinates that ensures the robot stays within the designated planting zone. The prototype, designed for the international finals in Turkey, can hold up to 15 seeds. It moves in straight lines, dropping seeds at predefined intervals. 

A rotating mechanism releases each seed, inserts it into the ground, and then the robot advances forward. Upon reaching the edge of the area, the robot performs a U-turn and continues in a zigzag pattern, ensuring full coverage of the planting zone.

Equipped with a sensor, the robot can detect and avoid obstacles by executing U-turns when necessary. It also features an antenna to transmit live data to the operator, including the number of seeds planted, their precise locations, and any obstacles encountered.

“Robotics can play an important role in addressing climate challenges,” Teodorescu said. “Tasks like tree planting, which are difficult to manage with human volunteers, can be automated.”

Mangroves have deep roots that provide important habitat for numerous aquatic and land-dwelling species. Above the water, their dense canopy offers shelter to birds, insects, mammals and reptiles, while below, the roots support water-filtering creatures like tunicates, sponges and bivalves. The space between the roots also provides shelter and food for species like prawns, crabs and fish, which rely on mangroves as nursery habitats, which support offshore fish populations and fisheries. They also help protect coasts from storms, absorbing some of the energy and water that would otherwise come rushing inland.

Teodorescu believes the technology developed for mangrove planting could also be used to plant other trees, helping to create additional carbon sinks and combat climate-related challenges.

The IUCN report on mangrove decline says without significant action by 2050, climate change and sea level rise will lead to the loss of 1.8 billion tonnes of carbon stored in mangroves, which represents 17 per cent of the total carbon currently stored in these ecosystems. 

Before heading to the World Robotics Olympiad (WRO), Teodorescu described representing Canada internationally as both exciting and rewarding.

“I am really happy to represent my country abroad,” he said. “It is exciting to think that my team and I built something that brought us to this level. We're representing Canada, and hopefully, we can win some prizes for the country. That would be really nice.”