'Sea Surface Cleaning Device' Developed

Students Develop Sea Surface Cleaning Device University students have developed a sea surface cleaning device that collects floating waste on the water. The prototype equipment, with a 50-litre waste capacity, can clean 86 square metres per hour. University students have developed a 'Sea Surface Cleaning Device'. The equipment, which has a 50-litre waste capacity, can clean 86 square metres per hour. The device is controlled via a mobile application developed by the students.

Doğuş Üniversitesi students Mert Emir, Oğuzhan Arun and Serkan Evcil, who issued a joint statement about the device they developed, noted that they conducted research and observation at Eminönü waterfront, Golden Horn and Kadıköy piers in Istanbul, and continued as follows:

"In these areas, the distance between water and land is less than 1 metre. These are the locations where our project needs to be used and should fulfil its purpose. Our project will provide significant savings for municipalities in such areas. Moreover, since it is electric-powered, it will not harm the environment. Our device can be used not only at sea but also in lakes, ponds, dams, canals, pools and private property areas. Its cost-effectiveness compared to similar products on the market makes converting it into a commercial product and its adoption favourable. Our device can carry a 50 kg useful load, and at 0.5 m/s speed it can clean 86 square metres per hour. The waste capacity is 50 litres. For example, it can accommodate 100 pieces of 0.5-litre PET bottles. It can be operated easily by one person."   Team members, noting that their project stands out with its smaller dimensions and functionality compared to equipment currently on the market, stated: "A device with high mobility that two people can easily carry thus keeps logistics costs as low as possible. The boat and conveyor were designed using computer-aided programmes and were constructed by us with support from computer-based analyses. With the advantage provided by the boat hull, it can manoeuvre easily, and will accelerate its movement towards waste in narrow areas. On the software side, we prepared a mobile phone application, and our device's motor speed control is managed through the application. The reason we did this was to reduce the cost of remote controls and ESC, and also to enable control from any phone," they explained.