11 million metric tons of trash enter Earth’s oceans each year, contributing to ecosystem loss, wildlife endangerment, and microplastic infiltration within the food supply. Over the past 2 decades, public awareness of the growing threat has increased, resulting in numerous organizations, like The Ocean Cleanup (TOC), seeking to curb the problem with their large-scale sweeping tugboats. However, all current efforts are costly, require large crews, and rely on diesel-powered vessels for collection and transport. The team sought to decarbonize and automate cleanup by developing an efficient robotic platform for open ocean surface trawling. Prototypes of 2 seaworthy, inexpensive, and autonomous-capable robots were developed to tow nets for cleanup in the turbulent open ocean. These robots were designed to operate without human crews and rely on minimal energy and operational costs when compared to existing systems. Future efforts may focus on commercializing the platform by selling oceanic data collected by onboard sensors.

• This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

Creator

• Espinosa, Gabriel
• Valle, Sebastian
• Wadsworth, Alexander
• Ngo, Danny

Subject

• Energy
• Sustainability
• Environment
• Innovation
• Industry
• Infrastructure
• Water

Publisher

• Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Identifier

• E-project-042524-135458
• 121735

Mot-clé

• Ocean Robot
• Mechanical Design
• Efficiency and Optimization
• Autonomous
• Plastic Pollution
• Cleanup

Advisor

• Bertozzi, Nicholas
• Guceri, Selcuk
• Aloi, Vincent

Year

• 2024

UN Sustainable Development Goals

• 6 - Clean Water and Sanitation
• 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production
• 13 - Climate Action
• 14 - Life Below Water

Date created

• 2024-04-25

Resource type

• Major Qualifying Project

Major

• Robotics Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering

Source

• E-project-042524-135458

Rights statement

• In Copyright