This pool cleaning company made a robot turtle to track water quality

Beatbot makes robotic pool cleaners. In fact, the company is showing off a new one with a docking station this week at CES 2025. What really caught our eye on the show floor, however, is RoboTurtle, because, well, it’s a robot that looks like a turtle.

The turtle, sadly, seems to very much be in the concept stages, as the firm focuses on more commercial endeavors.

 “The Robotic Turtle embodies our vision of leveraging Beatbot’s leading technology to address critical ecological challenges on a global scale,” says Beatbot exec, York Guo. “It is a partner to help safeguard communities and preserve the safest water levels for all creatures. This unique robot serves the planet for good alongside conservationists, scientists, and emergency responders.”

The idea is to build a solar-powered robot that can navigate bodies of water, while monitoring their quality via onboard sensors. Beatbot claims that the decision to lean into biomimicry with the turtle design is a bid to, “minimize[e] disruption to surrounding ecosystems.”

At some future date, such a system could be deployed to monitor conditions during oil spills, survey disaster damage, and monitor endangered species in their nature habitat.