MIT TO DEBUT OIL-SLICK ABSORBING ROBOT
The system, called Seaswarm, is a group of vehicles that may make cleaning up future oil spills both less expensive and more efficient than current skimming methods.
The Seaswarm robot uses a conveyor belt covered with a thin nanowire mesh to absorb oil. The fabric can absorb up to twenty times its own weight in oil while repelling water. By heating up the material, the oil can be removed and burnt locally and the nanofabric can be reused.
“We envisioned something that would move as a ‘rolling carpet’ along the water and seamlessly absorb a surface spill,” said Senseable City Lab Associate Director Assaf Biderman in a statement. “This led to the design of a novel marine vehicle: a simple and lightweight conveyor belt that rolls on the surface of the ocean, adjusting to the waves.”
MIT researchers estimate that a fleet of 5,000 Seaswarm robots would be able to clean a spill the size of the one in the gulf in one month.
