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IPFS News Link • Robots and Artificial Intelligence

New Solar-Powered Beach-Combing Robot Filters Even Tiny Plastic 30x Faster Than Humans

• https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org, By Andy Corbley

The electric-powered, sand-sifting BeBot can clean up to 3,000 square meters, or 33,000 square feet, of beach per hour, making it 20-30x more effective than collecting trash by hand.

The machine is agile and easy to maneuver, a clear differentiator from existing options which tend to be derived from retired agricultural equipment powered by gas, making them less-suited to delicate beach work.

It specifically excels at removing small pieces of plastic and other trash that are notoriously difficult to clean by hand, using small 1 cm x 1 cm sifting grids to separate these items from the sand.

A pair of triangular tracks gives the BeBot a smaller footprint, while a shallower cleaning depth of 10 cm effectively removes common beach trash while avoiding disruptions to any nearby habitats or animals, providing a more effective and sustainable approach to cleanups.

A remote-controlled robot, the beach-cleaner can be operated from up to 950 feet away.

BeBot comes out of a marine-technology firm called Polaru Marine, that among many other projects such as robotics, specializes in building aluminum marinas. They construct floating solar panel banks, and other cool aqua-tech like the "mooring star," which is essentially a giant addition sign that allows nature parks to greatly increase their boat mooring potential whilst protecting shorelines.


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