Earth’s Coral reefs protect shorelines as well as supporting abundant and diverse ecosystems. When waters become too warm, corals expel the zooxanthellae algae they rely on, leading to bleaching and potential ecological collapse. In recent scientific advances, researchers have developed lab-grown, heat-resistant zooxanthellae—an assisted evolution approach that could boost coral survival. Manned expeditions-the ships, time, planning, people, are costly and resource intensive.

SMACKsystem is an autonomous marine network comprising of a catamaran, docking buoys, and specialized  robots.  Guided by GPS navigation, weather forecasting data, and surface temperature readings, the catamaran travels to reefs at risk of bleaching. There, it deploys triangulated docking buoys, which release photogrammetry-equipped underwater robots to capture 3D models of the reef and monitor ecosystem health using deep neural networks trained to detect early bleaching signs. If corals appear at risk, feeder bots equipped with heat-resistant zooxanthellae strains provide targeted intervention.