Technical Report (1st 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 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.iadys.com/en/


https://www.facebook.com/927473997320061/posts/2866949606705814/





http://www.asiatiqueyachtsupplies.com/jellyfishbot.html





https://www.boatindustry.com/news/32526/jellyfishbot-a-versatile-robot-to-clean-your-marina-and-more