Technical Report First Draft
Enhancement of the Mobility of the Seabin Project by Integrating a Sea
Drone
Executive Summary
This report is written in response to a letter of
authorization dated xxxxxx, and aims to convince the Seabin Project Team that
the proposed adaptations are of utmost importance in enhancing the mobility
features and adopting a hydroelectric generator for the AI_Whirlpool.
The Seabin has been able to provide practical and
tangible solutions to reduce plastics in our ports and marinas, which is one of
the world-level problems. However, The Seabin functions as a stationary machine
that does not have a self-sufficient power supply as it draws its power from a
6m cable. This report discusses Seabin V5, which acts as a floating garbage bin
that skims the surface of the water to collect floating, debris, macro and
micro plastics and even micro fibres with an additional filter. This report
also captures the possible areas of improvements based on the combinations of
different concepts as well as the benefits of these combinations.
Upon researching the Seabin project, we learned
that the team intends to be dynamic by harnessing the knowledge and experience
of the across the world in this particular field of study. In order to further
spread the idea of the project, community activation, education programs, data
collection, scientific research and technology are main factors of
influence.
The proposed modifications for the AI_Whirlpool
area combination of Seabin, water drone and an upgrade of utilizing the
hydroelectric generator. This will vastly improve the rate ocean trash cleaned
up per day and reduce the amount of electricity used per day. Furthermore,
marketing this product will increase the awareness on water pollution and its
world-level threats.
Background
According to the Seabin Project (2019), the Seabin
machine is a floating device that is able to collect up to 50,000 plastic
bottles a year It works by moving up and down the tide,sucking up the
floating rubbish like a vacuum cleaner. The main goal of Seabin technology is
to capture all surrounding debris ,remove considerable amounts of microplastics
and prevent the particles from breaking down into smaller pieces in the sea.
The Seabin has the capability of collecting litter up to 3.9kg per day. Seabin
Project (2019) The global project for Seabin has a total of 719 units with more than 10
based in Sydney. These units help to collect 2 tons of waste a day.
However, even with such cleaning features, the
Seabin is lacking in its mobility. The current Seabin technology is attached to
a 6m cable, which requires it to be planted in areas that have power sources. Due to the 6m electrical cable, many
companies might choose other clean-up devices such as Jellyfish bot or Manta
Trawl. The clean-up devices are able to collect ocean trash beyond the Seabin’s
cleaning perimeters as they are deployed from a movable boat or they are
remotely controlled.
With the added mobility, the Seabin will be able to
operate on different water bodies and it might also serve as a tool to allow
people of all ages to contribute in the cleaning effort. For example, the
children under adult supervision could operate the device as well, leading to a
good learning opportunity. A mobile Seabin could pick up an additional 30%
trash. According to 100 Ocean Pollution Statistics & Facts (Condor Ferries,
n.d.), 15% of ocean trash is floating and an additional 15% are found on
beaches.
By including a hydroelectric generator, Seabin will
obtain a way to self-sustain its energy supply by eco-friendly means. By making
use of the waterflow caused during the cleaning process, the generator will be
remaining turning hence, producing electricity. Electricity produced via this
method can be used to power the Seabin’s pump and also the water drone, lasting
it for as long as it needs to complete its tasking.
A battery will be put in place to serve 2 purposes.
Firstly, to jumpstart the water drone before the hydroelectric generator takes
over in supplying the power and secondly, to serve as a fail-safe to prevent
total power failure. In the event where the hydroelectric generator is unable
to sustain the water drone or Seabin’s pump resulting in the product being
stranded out in the open water, it would become bad for the company as the
drone might be lost forever out in the ocean.
Problem
statement
Comparing Seabin to
Jellyfish bot or Manta Trawl, the 2 mentioned devices are able to travel to the
ocean for clean up via remote control. The
Seabin is stationed in ports and marinas connected to a power source by a 6m
electrical cable. Due to the length of the cable, it lacks mobility. A
self-sustaining battery is required to power the pump for its suction. To
address this problem, additional features such as combining movable drones and hydroelectric generators should be
implemented for sustainability.
Purpose
statement
This report is a
proposal to the Seabin Team to integrate water drones, a hydroelectric
generator and a reserved battery to give Seabin mobility.This could make it be
viable for a broader range of water bodies as well as having a self-sustaining
means.
Proposed
modifications
The current Seabin
has a unique suction feature to filter out the debris and oil waste. By
integrating mobility, the Seabin’s performance of the clean-up process will
increase significantly. These integration features will make the Seabin mobile.
Implementing a reserved battery to start up and a hydroelectric generator will
make the Seabin self-sustaining for its energy.
Water drone
First key enhancement
to the seabin is attaching a water drone onto it. The marine drone that we
selected for the modification is the Jellyfish-bot. Due to its structure of the
design which we intended to place the bin under the water drone itself and it
is also an ocean clean-up effort device that is used in the marinas. Due to the
possibility of it being lost in the sea a GPS tracking device is essential to
be equipped on it. Refer to figure 1 on the water drone.
Figure 1. “An innovative robotic solution for collecting marine waste”
by IADYS (n.d.)
Reserved battery
Another enhancement
to the seabin is to add a reserved battery onto the water drone and Seabin,
allowing it to jump start the water drone and Seabin and to prevent total power
failure. See Figure 2 for .
Hydroelectric
Generator
Keeping the
energy-level of the Seabin self-sustainable is the additional feature of a
hydroelectric generator. (Refer to figure 2 on the hydroelectric generator). It
generates electricity through energy conversion by utilising the flow of water.
Electricity generated will be used to charge the battery, which runs both the
suction of the seabin and the water drone. This gives the device the ability to
self-sustain. Furthermore, Seabin with these attachments can be considered
eco-friendly as it uses natural resources to generate its own
electricity.
Figure 2
Design
The Seabin V5 will be
positioned under the centre of the water drone (Jellyfish bot) for its
stability. Hydroelectric generators will be attached to the bottom of Seabin so
that when the water drone moves, the strong current will spin the turbines that
are connected to the hydroelectric generator that will then generate power to
the batteries of our water drone.
Functionality
The AI_Whirlpool is
either being controlled by a controller or auto-pathing. When it starts to move
around the water bodies, the hydroelectric generator starts to generate
electricity to power the suction of the seabin as well as charge the reserve
battery used to support the drone and seabin suction.
Benefits
The efficiency of the
current seabin product will be greatly increased. Instead of using it at a
stationary position, it could move around to do clean up. Hence, there will no
longer be a need for more stationary seabin to be planted near the marinas/port
as this AI_whirlpool can be used to move around and clean the debris around it.
In addition, AI_whirlpool is a self-sustaining product with the added
hydroelectric generator which is able to generate electric energy by energy
conversion.
Evaluation
Despite all the
benefits of adding a drone, hydroelectric generator and a reserved batteries,
the team continues to foresee some challenges
The additional water
drone, hydroelectric generator and reserved batteries will increase the cost of
production. It also requires the design team to remodel its product so that it
will be able to integrate these features together. However, this will further
increase its cost. The increase in the cost of production will increase the
retail price of the AI_Whirlpool, which increases the chances of losing in the
price competition against its competitors. Furthermore, the increase of the
integration will lead to a heavier device and reduction in how much payload it
can support. As a heavier load requires more generators for power and more
generators required results in heavier load, this leads to a vicious endless
cycle.
Since water drones
are an existing product in the market, minor modification will be required to
be combined with the Seabin. The reserved battery would not be considered as a
heavy load as its sole purpose is to act as an emergency source to water
drones. According to the Seabin Project (2020), Seabin has currently raised up
to $1.35 million and 1249 members of the community have invested in Seabin
Projects. Furthermore, Both Seabin and Jellyfish bot can be purchased from a
local Singapore company “Asiatique Yacht Supplies”.
Concluding statement
In conclusion, the
combination of the Jellyfish bot and the adaptation of the hydroelectric
generator should be implemented to make Seabin V5 a mobile and self-sustaining
device. These modifications allows Seabin V5 to have a sustained period of
usage and move around the water with ease. If the Seabin implements these
modifications on the Seabin V5, This will allow the Seabin to become the ideal
water-cleanup machine that swiftly cleans up the water from one zone to
another. This modification will also ensure that AI_Whirlpool will be the
Sea-cleaner of choice for the users.
References
Sydney Wharf Embraces Seabin Technology. (2019,
October 8). Retrieved 2 March 2020 from, https://seabinproject.com/sydney-wharf-embraces-seabin-technology/
CondorFerries. (n.d.). 100 Ocean Pollution Statistics & Facts
(2020). Retrieved March 2, 2020, from https://www.condorferries.co.uk/marine-ocean-pollution-statistics-facts
https://www.boatindustry.com/news/32526/jellyfishbot-a-versatile-robot-to-clean-your-marina-and-more
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