Advancing Kelp Aquaculture with Marine Robotics

The global seaweed market is a multi-billion-dollar industry. However, small-scale kelp farmers in the United States struggle to access the global market due to costly, laborintensive bottlenecks in the production process. Here, we present the development of three robotic tools that significantly reduce the labor, time, and cost of growing kelp. We are developing two key hatchery technologies-KelpCubes and Mini-Photobioreactors Reactors-and an Automated Kelp Line Seeder, which efficiently outplants spools of seed string onto grow lines in-situ. Using robotics to automate key steps in the growing process will enable small farmers and hatcheries to overcome costly bottlenecks, unlock economies of scale, and gain access to the global seaweed market.