One of the key environmental concerns is the millions of tons of plastic waste that end up in our waters every year. A Hong Kong-based startup, Open Ocean Engineering, has developed a technology that could help solve this problem. That technology comes in the form of Clearbot Neo, an AI-enabled robotic boat that autonomously collects tons of floating garbage that otherwise would wash into the Pacific from the territory’s busy harbor.
Just three meters long, Clearbot Neo uses a solar battery-powered electric motor to systematically skim the surface and scoops up floating trash, all while relying on AI tech to recognize and log the types of waste it collects and where.
This ingenious machine is designed by computer engineers Sidhant Gupta and Utkarsh Goel; the duo got the inspiration from a trip to the Indonesian vacation island of Bali, where they witnessed local workers take out small boats to remove waste from the waters manually. Soon afterward, they developed a basic aluminum prototype in Bali, followed by a fiberglass version. Then the team collaborated with a gaming hardware brand Razer to redesign its intelligent robots, equipping them with the right tools.
Clearbot Neo can be remotely controlled or operated autonomously, using a LiDAR to avoid obstacles. Its battery provides enough juice to keep it working for up to 4 hours, while its collection capacity is 200 kg (about 440 lb).
Once the floating trash is detected, the robot will scoop it up to feed its onboard conveyor belt, fitted near the bow between its dual hulls and into a holding bin near its stern.
According to the company, the Clearbot can bring in as much as a metric ton of waste per day for recycling or disposal. When fitted with a bespoke boom, it can also tackle localized oil and fuel spills by collecting up to 15 liters of pollutants a day.
Beyond trash, the boat also collects a ton of data using a two-camera detection system. One camera surveys the water’s surface so the bot can identify rubbish and avoid marine life, navigational hazards, and other vessels, while the second one photographs each piece of plastic waste that makes its way onto the conveyor. These images are tagged with a GPS location and saved to the company’s database hosted on Microsoft’s Azure platform for subsequent analysis.
Initial data analysis has found that only 20% to 40% of the marine plastic recovered in Hong Kong cleanup operations can go on to be recycled. Such information, together with variables like sea current and tide information, could help environmentalists and marine authorities to identify the sources of the trash.
“We’re finding out how the trash ends up in the water in the first place,” says Clearbot Neo’s co-creator Sidhant Gupta. “It adds a lot of transparency to the process of marine cleanup. We generate data about what’s actually in the water, what’s the make-up of the stuff that’s there, how much of it is recyclable, and what materials we should be focusing on.”
These days, Clearbot Neo creators are scaling up and are looking to have fleets of Clearbot Neos cleaning up and protecting waters around the globe.
Takeaway
Once it detects the floating trash, the robot will scoop it up to feed its onboard conveyor belt, fitted near the bow between its dual hulls and into a holding bin with a collection capacity of 200 kg (about 440 lb).
According to the company, the Clearbot can bring in as much as a metric ton of waste per day for recycling or disposal. When fitted with a bespoke boom, it can also tackle localized oil and fuel spills by collecting up to 15 liters of pollutants a day.
Action point
For some operations, robots are more cost-effective and more efficient than humans. Trash collection could be one of those areas, helping municipalities living next to the river - better protect their waterways. A fleet of Clearbot Neo robots can autonomously work by night without disturbing anyone, delivering clean(er) rivers to all constituents. And this translates into some political points for the person behind such an initiative. Plus, let's not forget that your municipality would be branded as advanced and willing to embrace modern technologies.
If your company serves municipalities near rivers, you may want to contact Clearbot and explore the option of being their distributor. Since they are a relatively new company, chances are they are interested in extending their reach to new markets. And that's your chance. As a company, you will not just be selling robots but the solution - clean rivers. Also, by adopting robots, your client cities and towns would benefit from the added lure of being progressive cities that are willing to embrace the technological revolution. And that's another selling point for you.