Cleaning up commercial waterways

The Jellyfishbot can clean microplastics, oil, debris and almost any type of floating waste from waterways.

Alongside its unparalleled ability to clean, Jellyfishbot can be equipped with sonar to conduct Bathymetric surveys down to a depth of 10m. Its intuitive interface is either programmable or operated by remote-control, meaning that hard to reach, problem areas can be cleaned easily.

“Jellyfishbot is such an exciting product and we’re thrilled to be bringing it to the UK,” said Simon Nadin, managing director for P&D Marine Group.

“It has the potential to vastly improve how we clean waterways across the country.”

Intuitive tech

Mr Nadin said that the wide range of applications for Jellyfishbot provide the perfect opportunity for business owners to begin building CSR programmes that support local clean-up efforts, as well as engage with the wider green agenda that is dominating headlines.

Jellyfishbot is a compact and easy to set-up device that collects floating waste located between boats, underneath pontoons and around moorings.

Mr Nadin says that the first thing that sets Jellyfishbot apart from other clean-up devices is its ease of use. Other devices that filter out or remove plastic from waterways are static and rely on being placed in problem areas to tackle waste. Jellyfishbot’s remote control function provides an easy way to clean difficult or dangerous bodies of water without any risk to workers or wildlife.

Jellyfish can operate autonomously. Operators programme in co-ordinates for a set cleaning area and Jellyfishbot takes care of the rest. Whereas other, static devices are only able to clean larger plastic waste and debris, Jellyfishbot is able to remove oil, microplastics and other difficult substances easily.

Its regular use prevents large scale build-ups of waste and the problems that come along with such pollution. Chemical changes within the marine ecosystem, like an increase in hydrocarbons can lead to biological shifts, such as algal blooms which can have massive consequences for food chains and biodiversity.

The device is also very compact. It can be easily operated and transported by one person in the back of a car. This is a problem for other, similar waste removal drones, whose unwieldy size makes them difficult to operate in smaller areas. Jellyfishbot’s small size and low weight of 20kg means it is the perfect choice for cleaning hard-to-reach areas that other devices simply can’t manage.

Plastic solution

Jellyfishbot was originally developed by Interactive Autonomous Dynamic Systems (IADYS) in France for the European market.

IADYS CEO and Jellyfishbot creator Nicolas Carlési, designed the device after diving in the Mediterranean, where he noticed the proliferation of plastic waste making its way into our oceans. He decided to use his expertise in robotics to design a device that is perfectly adapted to safely cleaning waterways.

The device started out in life as a remote-controlled litter collector but has now developed into a satellite guided, completely autonomous machine that can detect moving and static objects, above and below the water. These innovations lead to the development of Jellyfishbot’s bathymetric function, which is able to map and plot the depth of water. It also gives readings regarding water temperature and salinity on the controller interface. There is currently a charging dock and water sample collection system in development.

”With more than 4,700 miles of rivers and canals that lead directly to our oceans, the UK is in dire need of initiatives to tackle the rising tides of plastic waste in our waterways,” Mr Nadin says.

He points out that according to figures from Greenpeace, areas of the River Mersey are more polluted than the infamous ‘Great Pacific Garbage Patch’1.

”We need to take action against these problems now, before it’s too late to restore harmony within the oceanic biosphere,” he warns.

Multiple markets

Jellyfishbot has a broad range of applications for anyone working with or around waterways. As well as being perfect for the marine sector, where it can be utilised to clean-up problem areas and maintain the cleanliness of any waterway, it can be deployed to operate on all calm bodies of water, meaning that it has hugely practical applications depending on where it is deployed.

It’s very suited for maintaining high-traffic areas such as locks and canal channels as well as any private or commercial bodies of water in need of maintenance. Jellyfishbot can provide a huge amount of assistance to companies who have water spaces to maintain, without the necessary tools or crew to look after them.

There is also huge potential for Jellyfishbot to be applied to the petrochemical and waste management industries, as the design of the specialised netting is able to effortlessly sift and skim microplastics and oil from water surfaces. This removes any level of human risk from the ordinarily difficult and costly endeavours of clean-up are and allows hazardous materials to be removed from waterways safely.

When it comes to ports and terminals, Mr Nadin says that the device should be deployed as often as operators see fit in order to maintain the cleanliness of any waterway. Therefore, it fits in well as part of a regular clean up routine.

Regular upkeep using Jellyfishbot hugely decreases the risk of plastics contaminating bodies of water and disrupting the fragile ecosystems therein. It can replace any small-scale cleaning operations that would ordinarily be carried out by staff by automating or controlling the process.

In addition, multiple Jellyfishbots can be programmed to work autonomously in separate areas to complete thorough cleaning operations on larger bodies of water. The small, compact design also means that cleaning operations don’t create any disruption to those using the water and allows for managed waterways to be effortlessly maintained.

Mr Nadin is clear about Jellyfishbot’s potential to pioneer waste management for waterways into the future.

”Jellyfishbot is a future-proof way to tackle the issue of water-based waste management,” he explains.

“By removing risk to workers and wildlife, large-scale processes can be automated and carried out by one or two trained operatives to oversee any clean-up activity. This not only reduces the labour and time required of a waste management team but also increases the effectiveness of a cleaning operation.”

He says that by equipping multiple Jellyfishbots with a variety of cleaning apparatus, such as catch-nets and oil skimmers, companies can vastly increase the types of operations that can be completed simultaneously, meaning clean-up operations can be completed more quickly with a reduced risk and need for workers to be on the water.