Marine litter is a major environmental problem around the world. As part of the EU project SeaClear 2.0, a research team at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has now developed an autonomous diving robot that can detect and retrieve litter.
It uses an AI system to analyze objects with ultrasound and cameras, picks them up and brings them to the surface. The autonomous underwater waste collection system demonstrated its capabilities for the first time in the port of Marseille in France.
In countless ports worldwide, divers regularly retrieve e-scooters, bicycles, lost fishing nets and old tires from the harbor basins. In Dubrovnik, researchers counted over 1,000 pieces of rubbish in an area of 100 square meters. [Read more…] about Autonomous underwater waste collection soon to be a reality