Discovery

SCRAP Project Update

By Jake Hvistendahl Assignment 6.3

Biologic Strategies Discovery Phase

This document outlines discoveries made in the natural world with relation to the main function of the Swarming Collection Robots for Aquatic Purification (SCRAP) design that is being carried out on behalf of the Clean Ocean Project. The SCRAP design project aims to create a collection of interconnected drones that filter suspended plastic particles from the oceans in areas where these plastics are in high concentrations. The main function of the drones is to separate plastics, from 5mm and up in size, from ocean waters with minimal damage to biologic entities. The following natural strategies for filtering suspended solids were located from various online sources. These will be used as models for designing the filtering system for the drones. The sources of information are included on each page.

Gill Rakes
Natural Strategy: Most fish species have some form of gill rake that prevents prey and other materials from exiting through their gills and potentially damaging them. One filter feeding strategy using gill rakes is cross-filter filtration, where the gill rakes prevent the exit of particles parallel to the flow of water. This strategy is used to generate large concentrations of small prey before being swallowed. Emulating this strategy: Use cross flow filtration to increase concentrations of plastics and move them towards a dead end filter. This filter could be made of flexible wands with bristled edges, similar to gill rakes. An open bottom would allow fish and other animals to escape while still concentrating plastics.

Targeted Suction
Natural Strategy: Bladderwort, a type of carnivorous aquatic plant uses tiny suction chambers to trap its very small prey. When prey triggers small filaments around the chamber opening, the whole chamber expands rapidly, opening a trap door and sucking the prey inside. Emulating this Strategy: Create a number of linked suction chambers that can be triggered to open when plastics are sensed near the opening. Use mechanical deformation from pressure to open and close the trap doors on this filter system. These could be made in many different sizes.

Wind Powered Filter

Natural Strategy: The Portuguese Man of War, a colony of different organisms called polyps, uses long tentacles to catch its prey, similar to a jellyfish. The upper polyp of the Man of War is inflated and is shaped to catch the wind. As the wind propels the creatures forward, their different sized tentacles are spread out by the movement, enhancing the area being actively filtered by the animals. Emulating this strategy: Use a sail mounted to the top of the drone to create movement through the water. Use this movement to spread out the gill rake or suction style filters behind the bot.

Sources
Gill Rakes
Ecology of North American Fresh Water Fish, Stephen T. Ross, University of California Press, 2013. Images from Mantatrust.org

Wind Powered Filter

Hydrodynamics of Sailing of the Portuguese man of War, Physalia physalias. By G. Iosilevskii and D. Weihs, in Journal of the Royal Society. http://rsif.royalsocietypublishing.org/ content/6/36/613.full Images from:

Targeted Suction
Botanical Society of America website http://www.botany.org/ carnivorous_plants/utricularia.php Images from above and livescience.com

www.daz3d.com www.alertdiver.com