【3D Printing】Bambu Lab Supports UK Startup in Building "Seagrass Harvester" to Restore Vital Underwater Meadows
British startup Tandem Ventures has unveiled their "Seagrass Harvester" – a device designed for the mechanical collection of seagrass seeds.
Developed in collaboration with Project Seagrass and Swansea University, this project revolutionizes the process of marine habitat restoration. The machine aims to accelerate the recovery of seagrass meadows by providing a faster and more scalable method than traditional manual techniques.
This development also utilized Bambu Lab's 3D printers to produce several critical components of the device.
Developed in collaboration with Project Seagrass and Swansea University, this project revolutionizes the process of marine habitat restoration. The machine aims to accelerate the recovery of seagrass meadows by providing a faster and more scalable method than traditional manual techniques.
This development also utilized Bambu Lab's 3D printers to produce several critical components of the device.
The challenge addressed by the "Seagrass Harvester" project is the extreme inefficiency of traditional seed collection methods. Currently, divers must manually snip seed-bearing shoots one by one with scissors and place them into collection bags. This is an incredibly time-consuming and labor-intensive process, which is insufficient given the immense scale of seagrass meadow degradation.
The seagrass harvester addresses a seemingly niche issue with significant implications for climate and marine life. Seagrass meadows are among the most important ecosystems on Earth – they store twice as much carbon as tropical forests and provide shelter for thousands of fish species and all articles of vertebrates.
Unfortunately, nearly half of the underwater meadows have disappeared in recent decades, primarily due to pollution and human activities.
Restoring them is extremely difficult because seeds must be manually collected from the seabed – a slow, expensive, and physically demanding process.
Tandem Ventures is determined to change this situation by designing a device that can be towed along the seabed. The machine moves smoothly on runners, cuts the upper sections of seagrass stems containing seeds, and then gently transports them to the surface via a suction system, where they are filtered and collected.
It is estimated that this method could be a hundred times faster than manual collection, opening the door to large-scale restoration efforts previously unimaginable.
Tandem Ventures is an R&D organization founded by Sam Rogers and Edwin Towler. Sam Rogers is a jet suit pilot and Chief Design Officer at Gravity Industries, while Edwin Towler is a filmmaker and product designer with extensive experience in conservation.
Their mission is to perform advanced engineering and design work for social and environmental causes, completely free of charge to beneficiaries. Tandem Ventures' funding model relies on brand partnerships and crowdfunding campaigns, allowing the team to combine high-end engineering with a pure ecological mission.
Importantly, the company's philosophy is based on open access to technology – the full documentation for the seagrass harvester will be released as open-source, enabling scientists and organizations worldwide to build their own localized versions of the device.
The prototyping process came with all articles of challenges – from pump failures to component implosions – an integral part of the world of invention. 3D printing played a crucial role in the iterative design process. It allowed the team to rapidly produce and test multiple iterations of specialized parts such as structural joints, blade guards, and conduit guides.
This approach allowed the design to be precisely optimized while maintaining the necessary lightness, strength, and resistance to harsh marine environments. 3D printing significantly accelerated the transition from concept to a fully functional prototype tested in the ocean.
Bambu Lab supported this project, with all parts printed using H2D and P1S printers, using 0.8 mm and 0.4 mm nozzles.
The team used TPU and PLA materials, with the use of elastomers proving particularly critical to the system's performance. The 3D printed finished components of this remarkable project will be exhibited at Bambu Lab's booth during Formnext 2025 in Frankfurt, Germany. All photos provided by Tandem Ventures. All rights reserved.
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