Say goodbye to waste-filled waterways thanks to a pilot project using Waste Shark autonomous vessels.
Nothing bothers me more than hiking out to a hidden country pond or taking an ocean cruise and finding trash and other debris hanging out among the wild life. I’ve done my fair share of clean up, and now I’m happy to report there’s a new aquatic drone that can help pick up the slack.
The Waste Shark is being touted as an autonomous vessel, akin to a Rooba vacuum for the sea, that gathers up waste from a port’s waterways, for example, before it washes out to sea. According to an article in Fortune, the robot-craft, developed by RanMarine, can scoop up the equivalent of 1,120 pounds of trash and bring it back to a collection point, helping to eliminate waste before it sinks to the ocean’s floor. The Waste Shark can also operate around the clock, regardless of weather conditions.
The Port of Rotterdam is testing four Waste Sharks over the next six months. In addition to this clean-up work, the sea-traveling robots are also going to collect data about water quality, and leverage route data to come up with more efficient collection strategies over time.
Now that’s a shark likely to be welcomed in many waters!
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