The touch-sensitive bumpers, coupled with a signal processor on the shore of the canal, is programmed to differentiate between floating debris and manatees. When the sensors detect a manatee the vertical lift gate stops closing, opens for a period and then tries again. These large gates swing independently in a wide arc, making it more difficult to detect a manatee between them. HBOI engineers designed a system using a series of acoustical beams, projected in a ladder-like pattern from one gate to another as they close. An interrupted signal, when three or more beams are broken simultaneously indicates the presence of a large object gates reopen.
Manatees have a difficult life coexisting with the human species.
Technological advances like these detectors developed by the Engineering Division at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution may help to minimize man's impact on the environment and help to save the manatee, a species threatened by extinction.