Thousands of tonnes of plastic rubbish drift in the seas of Asia, the region environmentalists cite as the biggest source of the petrochemical waste that chokes coastal waters and leaves beaches looking like rubbish dumps.
Clearing up the massive piles of refuse is a never-ending task, but a new invention developed by Hong Kong student engineers and scientists could help to make a difference.
They have developed a semi-submersible robotic marine rubbish collector, which they have named the ClearBot. It was awarded second prize at the Global Grand Challenges Summit in London in September. Now they want to put it to good use to help tackle the intractable problem of marine plastic waste worldwide.
The award-winning device consists of a simple metal frame containing a rubbish collection basket and PVC pipes to provide buoyancy. It is controlled like a remote-controlled boat, with two battery-powered thrusters.
Solar cells trickle-charge the batteries, and an electronics pod contains a host of sophisticated tools; a miniature camera searches for floating rubbish.
When the refuse is detected by artificial intelligence object-recognition software, the ClearBot moves in to scoop it up in a semi-submerged collection net, guided by an inbuilt GPS system.
It can be operated by remote control or programmed to follow a preset search path.
