Seaswarm: Autonomous Oil Spill Clean-Up Robot

Scientists at Boston-based MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) have drawn on ultra hi-tech nanotechnology to develop a solar-powered robotic oil-absorbing design that could boost the efficiency and lower the cost of cleaning-up future oil spills, such as that caused by the Deepwater Horizon explosion earlier this year.

The Seaswarm robot would operate within a wide fleet of identical devices known as the Seaswarm system.

Deployed en masse, the machines could tackle oil spills by navigating autonomously over the waves and using their nanowire-covered conveyor belts to collect the oil.

Oil Spill Clean-Up

This nanowire covering was developed by Professor Francesco Stellacci and it is capable of soaking a maximum of 20 times its weight in surface oil, while pushing away any water that tries to enter at the same time.

From there, the application of heat to the nanowire causes the oil to be released and it can then be treated, while the nanowire itself can be sent on the next robotic oil spill clean-up mission.

“We envisioned something that would move as a 'rolling carpet' along the water and seamlessly absorb a surface spill”, Assaf Biderman – Associated Director of MIT’s Senseable City Lab – explained in an MIT press release issued on 25 August. “This led to the design of a novel marine vehicle: a simple and lightweight conveyor belt that rolls on the surface of the ocean, adjusting to the waves.”

Seaswarm Robot

The Seaswarm robot is 16 feet in length and seven feet in width. It runs on solar power and absorbs solar energy through a system of photovoltaic devices.

MIT point out that Seaswarm’s energy consumption levels are extremely low: effectively the robot could carry out many weeks worth of ocean clean-up operations using no more power than a regular domestic light bulb.

The Deepwater Horizon explosion clean-up involved in excess of 800 oil skimmers. Despite their efforts, figures indicate that they only removed in the region of three per cent of the spill. By contrast, MIT suggests that 5,000 Seaswarm robots could potentially decontaminate a gulf-sized spill in around 30 days.

The prototype Seaswarm robot is set to be showcased at an exhibition in Italy on 28 August. The Venice Biennale is a regular event and, this time, is focusing on the impact of nanotechnology on lifestyles in years to come.

Seaswarm Robot image courtesy of the Senseable City Lab and reproduced with grateful thanks

See also:

Microbes Could Clean Up Oil Spills