Three ingenious robotic projects to clean the oceans

Gillbert: the microplastic-eating robot fish

In June 2022, Eleanor Mackintosh won the Natural Robotics Contest prize. This competition rewards robots that help the environmental cause while having an aspect as close as possible to nature. Gillbert is capable of recovering microplastics from the surface of water, and its applications are more than promising. It can in fact scan and clean up to 800 m³ of water per hour!

Like a small whale, the robot keeps its mouth open on the surface and can store up to 30 kg of plastic. Two synthetic gills allow water to come out of the device. Once the robot is full, it signals it to the person controlling it since , for the moment, this little fish is not autonomous. Its creator will continue to improve it, and its goal is to be able to control it over a greater distance until it becomes completely autonomous.

These robots inspired by nature (called “bio-inspired”) are very interesting on two points:

• they promote the tranquility of wildlife,

• they allow us to consider solutions that are impossible as human beings.

Looking at the results of the competition, we can see that nature has not finished inspiring us. Whether for the unique abilities that certain species have, or to help us better understand the environment of the living beings around us.

Jellyfishbot: the rescuer of bodies of water

This French robot has been available since 2018. It allows you to clean all bodies of water not only from waste, but also from hydrocarbons that may be found there. We could think of a gasoline leak in a port for example.

By indicating an area, it is able to act independently to collect up to 80 liters of polluting components! For more difficult to access places, a version can be controlled remotely.

The company behind this project, IADYS, has been exporting it internationally for a few years now, and we hope to see more initiatives like this in the future!

The Ender Ocean Project: video games serving the planet

Who said you can't help the planet while staying at home? This is the challenge that the developers of the Ender Ocean project wanted to take on.

We are talking here about a video game, playable from home, where you will learn to control an underwater drone. The purpose of this step is to teach you all the controls of this device. Eventually, you will be able to control a real drone. It will be deployed from a waste collection boat, and you will guide it from home, using your computer.

All you will need to help the organization clean up the oceans is a computer and a good internet connection.

For the moment, the game is not yet available to everyone, so you will have to register on their site to be able to carry out your first driving sessions. At the end of these sessions and once you have your certification, you will be able to reserve a slot and pilot one of these drones directly from the ocean.

Around the world, more and more ecological initiatives are being developed to try to clean our planet as best as possible. Some go off the beaten track to find the dose of ingenuity and creativity necessary to integrate into a wild environment, or even attract public attention to the environmental cause. Robotics allows us to think differently, and to go to places still inaccessible to humans. This is just the beginning of these types of initiatives, and we hope that these projects continue to grow and flourish!

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Sources:

HAMON BEUGIN Valentin, [The industry is crazy] A robot fish devouring plastic waste. www.usinenouvelle.com [online] . Available at: https://www.usinenouvelle.com/editorial/l-industrie-c-est-fou-un-poisson-robot-devoreur-de-dechets-plastiques.N2058647 (accessed 01/12/2022).

Jellyfishbot, jellyfishbot.io [online]. Available at: https://www.jellyfishbot.io/

Ender Ocean, enderocean.com [online]. Available at: https://www.enderocean.com/