Dolphin robot swims into oil spills and cleans them
SMRTR summary
A sneaker-sized robotic dolphin glides across polluted water, hunting for oil with the precision of a marine predator. Australian researchers at RMIT University have engineered this aquatic cleanup machine with a filter inspired by sea urchin spikes, which naturally repel water while soaking up oil like a microscopic sponge.
The robot collected blue kerosene at a rate of two milliliters per minute during lab tests, achieving more than 95 percent purity in its onboard tank. The sea urchin-inspired coating can absorb up to 65 times its weight in oil, then release most of it when squeezed and bounce back to 97 percent performance.
PhD researcher Surya Kanta Ghadei drew motivation from childhood memories of oil spills harming marine turtles along India's coast. The team envisions a dolphin-sized version that operates autonomously, cycling between cleanup work and a base station to empty its tank and recharge until spills disappear completely.
Unlike passive systems that wait for oil to drift by, this mechanical cetacean actively pursues contamination across the water's surface.
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