Robotic 'Shark' Consumes Plastic Trash, Helps Clean London River

Trisha Kae Andrada, Tech Times 21 March 2023, 10:03 am

In London, Middle Dock at Canary Wharf is being patrolled by a robotic "shark" in an effort to reduce plastic waste entering the Thames river.

The machine, which runs on batteries, can collect up to 500 kilograms of plastic garbage every day, or 22,700 plastic bottles, from an area as large as 5 kilometers (3 miles) in diameter. Collecting garbage allows for its subsequent recycling into useful products like new bags, furniture, and more possible items.

Marine robots may serve as an adequate first line of defense until we can release plastic-chewing worms to combat London's fatbergs.

Protecting the Thames River's Pristine Condition

The Thames, which flows across southern England, is the second-longest river in the UK at about 215 miles (346 kilometers). Its tidal part is reported to be home to over 125 different kinds of fish, and it drains the whole of Greater London.

Studies have shown that the Thames contains some of the highest amounts of microplastics of any river in the world, making it more hazardous for the river's animals to survive in. Wet wipes, disposable cups, bottle caps, and takeout containers are often discovered in the Thames.

As part of their preparations for Global Recycling Day last week on Mar. 18, sustainable water company Aqua Libra and the Canary Wharf Group sent out their robot.

Introducing... the WasteShark

According to Evening Standard, the robot named WasteShark will hang around in the local rivers for at least three months. Furthermore, it will be keeping an eye on the water quality to see if there are any toxins that might be harmful to the aquatic habitat.

More than fifteen different sensors, including those for measuring temperature, depth, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, blue-green algae, and crude and refined oils, are included in the bot's system. It then sends the data, complete with GPS coordinates and a timestamp, to the central software hub for further processing.

The company RanMarine, located in the Netherlands, created WasteShark. The autonomous robot, much like a self-driving vehicle, is equipped with a LiDAR that can scan its surroundings for obstacles using lasers. It has two electric thrusters to assist it in navigating the water and weighs 75 kg.

Its inspiration, the whale shark, can achieve speeds of up to 4.8 kilometers per hour, but this creature tops out at 3 kilometers per hour. Yet, its developers claim it operates quietly, following a predetermined path through 4G mobile data.

Daily upkeep of small waterways, which are out of reach for bigger waste-collection vehicles, is the bot's specialty. RanMarine found that large-scale solutions waited an excessive period of time for vast regions of garbage chokeholds to form before being deployed.

The majority of trash ends up at the river's bottom, where it can never be recovered, the firm says. As an alternative, WasteShark can collect debris in the water, such as plastic bottles, before they accumulate and cause problems.