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A group of researchers from the Universidad Privada del Norte, in Peru, have designed a device designed to clean ocean waters of microplastic debris without harming the marine habitat. The charging station uses photovoltaic and tidal energy. Ruth Manzanares, research professor of the project, explains to pv magazine how it works.
It measures more than a meter long, has a shape similar to the sea dragon (“ cousin” of the seahorse) and has one objective: to collect microplastics from the oceans, a growing pollution and that marine fauna involuntarily consumes.
How does Sugon collect microplastic? “ Through three arms, two smaller ones and one larger one, provided with metal meshes and that function as filters - Ruth Manzanares describes to pv magazine - , it also has a design that allows it to reach deep areas. The collected microplastic is retained and driven towards the lower part of the arm, thanks to the same force of the tide and the direction of the arm ”.
And he adds: “ The microplastic deposits, located in the fins of Sugon, have inside a sensor that differentiates the presence of plastic and water inside, to control if the container is full or empty; In this way, the main station will constantly monitor each Sugon robot, both will be connected by data transmission and reception modules; the data sent to the station will be uploaded to the cloud and thus be analyzed later in the marine communication station .”
“ On the other hand -he continues- , the Sugon control system has actuators that perform the rudder turns for its navigation, it is also responsible for monitoring its position and displacement, which allows knowing the location of each Sugon robot and let them not interfere with each other .”
When the battery level reaches 50%, Sugons controller will instruct Sugon to return to the station for charging.
“ The charging station -explains the member of the project- uses renewable energy sources for its operation, such as photovoltaic energy through the use of a 12V – 100 W IP-67 monocrystalline solar panel, installed on top of the station, with the ability to receive a greater amount of energy independent of the state of the weather .”
“ The device will be connected to an MPPT voltage regulator to protect the 12V-7Ah battery that will be charged and then serve as power for the stations main control system, ” he says, adding: “ The station has a wireless charging to power up to 4 Sugon robots using tidal energy as a source, the system consists of a turbine, speed multiplier and a charge regulator that protects the 12v-7Ah battery that will power Sugon .”
The group of researchers is completed by Max Surco Cipión, Diana Rosales Gurmendi and Brandon Flores Guerrero, all belonging to the Research Group on Applied Innovation in Product and Service Design (GIADIPS), which is coordinated by the projects research professor.
The design has just obtained a patent, “ now it is the stage of looking for companies or if the municipal or provincial governments are interested in acquiring it”, says Manzanares, and explains that “ we have the costs per prototype, but we are quoting so that the prices go down considerably when working en masse .” |
