An aquatic robot that’ll clean your fish tank for you

The MOAI team (r-l): Andy Zhong, Yoon Hoon

On a sweltering summer’s day in Shenzhen last July, Yoon Hoon was sitting inside appreciating the mechanical cool of his apartment, with his friend and soon to be co-founder, Andy Zhong. Drinking tea together and reminiscing about old times at the industrial design firm they both used to work at, they couldn’t help but admire the beautiful indoor aquarium pressed against the living room wall of Hoon’s studio apartment.

As fellow aquarium owners themselves, it struck them that they’d not really come across many clever gadgets specifically made for aquarium hobbyists. Yoon wondered whether it was possible to remotely monitor water quality. Zhong became excited at the prospect of an IP camera for fish-tanks, something that would allow you to “watch your little fishies when you were away from home.”

Thus, AquaTrek was conceived.

In the beginning, the fledgling startup, called Moai, set out to discover whether there were any ready-made contraptions already suited for their purposes. In the global community for aquarium owners, many install the popular Nest Cam – formerly known as Dropcam – for the remote surveillance of both their fish and the tank. While Nest Cam does provide wireless sight and surveillance, the chief drawback to the setup is Nest Cam isn’t specifically suited to the task. Hoon explains that the Nest Cam lacks the ability to focus on very small things and a level of controllability for fish tanks that makes the experience enjoyable.

The first iteration of AquaTrek included some of the same features as Nest Cam, but also improved upon it, and added a wireless sensor to monitor water quality.

An AquaTrek prototype

AquaTrek reborn

“Shenzhen is the hardware capital of China, with lots of related events being held throughout the year,” says Hoon about his appearance at the city’s 2014 Mini Maker Faire, Shenzhen’s answer to the global phenomenon that is the Maker Movement. At the event, the Moai boys also came across world-renowned accelerator Hax. That encounter turned into an opportunity for product development.

“In the next half a year we worked on market research and product design, met mentors from marketing, supply chain, and the pet industry,” says Hoon. “As luck would have it, we entered their sixth batch.”

Hax’s 111-day accelerator program provided Moai with the institutional support they needed to develop the idea with some careful prodding and encouragement. The latest generation of AquaTrek was born during this experience.

Hoon says the challenge with owning an aquarium is that although they’re delightful to look at, they’re a burden when it comes to cleaning. Hoon notes both his large office aquariums need to be hand-scrubbed at least twice a week, so as to prevent growth of algae and other contaminants.

See: eFishery lets farmers sense fish appetites via smartphoneWith this in mind, and observing the success of automated vacuum cleaner Roomba, Hoon and the Moai team got to work developing their Roomba for aquariums. Today, AquaTrek is an all-in-one cleaning, monitoring, and surveillance tool. Much like the Roomba, it is a largely autonomous, utilizing an aquatic scrubber and auto sensing technology to perform its duties, as well as continuing to offer its previous features.

Kickstarting the launch