Robots Could Be Used To Harvest Underwater Timber
January 7th, 2009
With the current sociopolitical landscape encouraging us to go green, it is no surprise that new eco-minded technologies will come to market. The Triton Logging Company is one such example. Their 7000 lb Sawfish robot is a machine to clearcut trees underwater. It can dive to any depth and is remotely operated via desktop computer.
The Sawfish is the world’s only deep-water logging machine, and though it may inadvertently saw hundreds of fish into a billowing, bloody, underwater mass, the reasoning behind its existence is chiefly environmental. Since many lakes around the world contain the soggy remnants of long-ago-flooded forests (some due to human water rerouting for dams/reservoirs), that lumber can be obtained without cutting down living forests. Approximately 300 million dead trees exist underwater. This looks like a job for Sawfish! PS: An alternate title for this article would be “Envirofriendly Lumber: Just In Timber Lake”.
