In certain reservoirs in Singapore, people can spot several floating "swans". However, these are not real swans, but rather robotic devices disguised as swans for water quality monitoring.

These low-cost autonomous robotic swans are capable of real-time sampling in freshwater bodies with centralized data storage tools for diverse data acquisition by autonomous sensing nodes, effective visualization as well as interoperability with existing database and prediction models.

This is just one application case of the Energy and Environmental Sustainable Solutions for Megacities (E2S2) Programme, led by Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) and the National University of Singapore (NUS), and funded by the National Research Foundation of Singapore.

E2S2 seeks to study sustainable solutions for coupled problems in the field of waste management and emerging contaminants in Shanghai and Singapore. It also aims to develop a platform to facilitate the understanding, design, and implementation of infrastructure and sustainability solutions for future cities, and serve as inputs for strategic policymaking and real-time environmental monitoring and response for coupled problems in future cities.