It’s a tough task to keep the beaches clean, even a team of cleaners can miss bits of plastic. If littered on the beach, these plastics can break down into smaller bits and could make it to the stomachs of fishes, seabirds, and even humans.
This is where BeBot comes to our help. It is an electric robot that is developed by marine manufacturer Poralu Marine. The first robot has been used to clean the beaches on American soil and was purchased by the marine cleanup company 4ocean.
Removing plastic from beaches
BeBot is powered by a battery, with a solar panel to power other accessories. Its continuous-track propulsion system allows it to glide smoothly over the sand. As it moves on the beach, its sifter sorts out plastic and other garbage, leaving a clean strip of sand behind.
Unlike Roomba robots, BeBot cleans with the help of a remote-controlled operator. Its makers say that they chose to not make the robot autonomous due to safety reasons of beach-going families. Both the robot and its remote control have an emergency stop button. As of now, there are 30 BeBots developed, and its developers are aiming to sell them to hotels and municipalities.
BeBot isn’t the only environmental cleanup robot in the company’s portfolio. It’s just one member of a family of gadgets known as the Serial Cleaners, which includes the floating Pixie Drone and the Invisibubble.
Robotics seeing more innovations
Back in June, Toyota also released a video demonstrating a robot wiping down tables and other surfaces. It does all of that while taking a video of itself. The company explains, “most robots are programmed to react to the objects and geometry in front of them.”
Robots cannot differentiate between an actual object and its reflection. Sometimes everyday things such as a drinking glass or a shiny toaster could mess up with robots meant for performing homely chores, and prevent them from working properly.
