SeaRo: An Innovative Solution for Eliminating Polymer

Waste on Bodies of Water

in the Philippines

by

[Name]

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the course

Science, Technology and Society

Is Submitted to

[Name]

Professor

Batangas State University

Alangilan

2022

I INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

 Polymers (plastics) are indispensable materials utilized in households,

transportation, production, packaging, technological machineries and many more. As

plastics are extremely functional, the demand for this material increases annually. By

2020, the total number of plastics in tons is estimated to be at 300 million. The

production of these materials is expected to double in the following years according

to the curve of demand. But due to such massive output count, landfills cannot

accommodate all of the waste products (Lindwall, 2020).

In any case, polymers are non-biodegradable products. These materials are

difficult to dispose of because they do not decay in time. Many households in the

Philippines burn plastics in order to discard them. This results in toxic gases

released in the air such as dioxins, furans, mercury and polychlorinated biphenyls

(Verma et al., 2016). These gases are not only harmful to the environment but also

to a person’s health. It can cause health-related problems if inhaled that could

possibly lead to mortality.

Today, more than half of these materials have been improperly disposed of—

going into land and seas. This triggered the pollution to balloon tremendously as well

as worsen global warming in the long run. Plastic waste cast in the ocean also killed

thousands of marine organisms. It destroyed their natural habitat and coral reefs. If

this continues in the future, extinction of certain aquatic species may ensue (IUCN,

2021).

i. Problem Statement

As the world revolved around modernization and grand technological

advancements, the demand on different materials and products in the market

had only fluctuate depending on the rate of exhaustion of these outputs.

Polymers, being a critical material to different industries and production

 companies, had one of the highest marketability and output yield per year.

This excessive requirement of plastics usage led to an alarming number of

polymer waste products.

In the Philippines, Pasig River has the highest pollution index and has

been a target of countless government projects and clean-up drives. The 25-

kilometer stretch of water is considered to be one of the most pollution-

concentrated rivers in the global scene (UNEP, 2017). According to studies,

the primary causes of this degradation of water quality are improper waste

management from households and industrial wastes, poor sewage systems

and the lack of awareness.

In recent years, the Pasig River has shown notable change from the

rehabilitation conducted by the Department of Environment and Natural

Resources (DENR). It has been cleared of different kinds of waste littered

across the river.

Nonetheless, there are still numerous polluted bodies of water in many

local communities of the Philippines hence the critical need of an innovative

project that would mitigate pollution in the country.

ii. Overview of the Solution

The Philippine government has continuously made propositions and

steps to mitigate the pollution in the country. The governing body has

allocated funds and manpower to fully improve the state of the nation’s

environment. But there are limitations to the solutions that the government

has implemented. Workers and volunteers have finite energy and can only

function within a specific amount of time and rate of work done their ability

allows.
 The objective of this study is to make an innovative project using the

current technology and bring a revolutionary change in the current issue the

country is facing. This project aims to produce an autonomous plastic waste

collector and recycling robot.

The robot features autonomy which means it can function without

human intervention and can therefore save in labor and reduce the risk of

workers getting hurt during the time period that they are working. The robot

itself is powered by electricity and can self-sustain via solar power. Once the

machine’s storage reached its capacity, it would navigate its way back to its

designation station as the robot is programmed to do all the work by itself

except for the maintenance.

Automation and artificial intelligence are the one of the current

developing technologies in the present time. Incorporating these features in

the machine will allow it to reach the maximum work-efficiency and augment

the lack of manpower.

iii. Project Significance

Environment. The prime target of this project is to ameliorate the

stress on the environment due to improper disposal of polymers. An

innovation on a technology that functions as a collecting-to-recycling

automated system would target the current global problem and thereby

improve the environmental situation.

Marine Ecosystem. The focus of this project is to eliminate the plastic

waste specifically in the marine setting. Collecting these waste materials will
 provide marine species with a healthier environment. This will alleviate the

mortality caused by plastic pollution in the marine ecosystem, enabling it to

function with utmost efficiency.

General Public. The dangers prompted by improper plastic waste

disposal ensue in several health-related problems. The completion of this

innovation is greatly advantageous to humans as the risks they may

encounter posed by plastic pollution will be reduced.

Future Researchers. This endeavor may serve as guidance to gather

information and act as a pillar or concept.

II CONCEPTUAL DESIGNS

Figure 1
 The figure shown above exhibits the general concept and process of the

project. The progression of the study will be as follows: Project Engineering, Off field

Testing, On-field Testing, Adequacy Analysis and Marketing.

In Project Engineering, the formulation of internal and exterior designs of the

robot will be done as well as integrating the target functionalities through

programming. In this phase, a prototype SeaRo will be made for testing. Meanwhile

the Off-field testing will assess the prototype whether its ready for an on-field testing.

It will include testing of the material suitability, turbines, conveyor belts and some of

the basic functions of the robot. If an error is detected, the prototype will undergo

troubleshooting and then proceed to the on-field testing.

Following this, On-field Testing will commence. In this part, the prototype will

be released in the ocean. Its reaction and functions such as GSP navigation,

autonomous piloting, waste collection efficiency will be evaluated. Once this process

is done, it will move onto Adequacy Analysis to search for further improvements if the

testing is successful; else, when an error in the prototype is diagnosed, it will go

through troubleshooting.

Lastly, post-preparations and the marketing of the product will be

administered.

i. Relevant Concepts

The concept of the project itself is similar to a Roomba. A Roomba is a

smart semi-autonomous robot designed to navigate around furniture and

clear up the clutters on the floor. It offers mapping of an entire area and

committing the data in its memory for easier access and increase in work

efficiency. It is also programmed to return to its charging port once its battery
 is nearly exhausted. The latest edition of these Roombas features self-

unloading when its storage reaches its capacity. This intelligent design gave

rise to varying versions of a cleaning robot. This technology is widely used in

America as well as in Asian countries because of the convenience it gives.

Autonomous vehicles (AV) are also one of the more significant

concepts the project was built on. AVs are products of ingenious engineering

and artificial intelligence. These vehicles were already used in space

exploration even before it became accessible to the general public.

In fact, the first autonomous rover called the Lunokhod 1 was developed by

NASA and released on the moon in 1970. Currently, Tesla Incorporated is

one of the major designers and manufacturers of electric and autonomous

vehicles. The market on autonomous vehicles is estimated to swell in the

future as its demand is gradually getting higher.

ii. Existing Technologies

In 2015, the Seabin was developed to alleviate the situation of plastic

trash covering large areas of the sea and posing dangers to the community.

Its design is intended to pump water and generate a small vortex that would

suction plastic waste and floating debris along the water surrounding it. This

technology is powered by electricity up the shore. The solid wastes collected

will be stored in a dustbin while clean water will be pushed out from the

bottom of the Seabin. This has effectively eliminated more than 3 000 US

tons of waste from the sea.

In the same year, the concept of SeaVax was devised. The aim of this

project was to ameliorate the pollution caused by plastic waste in the ocean.
 SeaVax was estimated to collect 24 000 tons of plastic waste annually. The

key features of this innovation are the utilization of clean energy and high

mobility and autonomy. SeaVax is a portable ship powered by solar and wind

energy. With its size, the mobility of SeaVax is generally higher than those

larger sea-waste collectors.

In 2016, Floating Robot for Eliminating Debris (FRED) was developed.

FRED is an autonomous sustainable waste collector that runs

of solar power. It collects debris from the ocean by scooping it with its belt.

This innovation can also prevent aquatic animals from getting swept inside. It

is programmed to detect life around it and automatically steer it away by

gently pushing it off to the sides. Once FRED’s storage is completely filled up,

it will notify Clear Blue Sea, the inventor of this project and in turn, the

organization will unload and process these wastes for recycling and

contribute these plastic wastes to scientists and recycling centers.

III GENERAL DESIGN

i. Project Design
 Figure 2
Figure 2 describes the build and design of SeaRo.

ii. Materials

The internal build of the project consists of several components. This

includes the control panel, wirings, batteries, and storage.

1. Control panel is assembled using fiberglass as most printed circuit

boards (PCB) are made.

2. The wirings to connect the control board to the batteries, turbines and

other parts of the machine.

3. It is solar-powered and thus, two 100kWh Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries

are needed to store enough energy to run the whole system and

machine.

4. The waste collected will be sorted and amassed in the storage.

On the other hand, the external configuration of this robot is relatively

simple; it is composed of metal, turbine, sensors and a conveyor belt.

 1. Steel will be used to form the body and frame of the project. It is a

general knowledge that steel is one of the most durable and rigid

metals in the world. Using this will ensure that the robot will be able

handle time and heavy-duty work.

2. Turbines will enable the robot to steer and move in the water. 3. The

main use of sensors is to deliver real-time data about the environment to

the control board. The data it provides will be critical to the robot’s

autonomy.

4. The conveyor belt will collect trash from outside and bring it to the

storage. The bottom part of this belt is dipped below the water to

ensure that its reach is enough to scoop up wastes.

iii. Functionality and Advantages

The Innovative Autonomous Sea Waste Collector Robot (SeaRo) is a

self-piloting robot designed to clean wastes, specifically polymer wastes, in

the ocean and other bodies of water. This functions independently without the

help of any human. It uses the Global Positioning System (GPS) to navigate

its way. The internal build of this robot is designed to effectively sort the

wastes it will collect into two categories: plastic and debris. When the

amassed waste reaches the maximum capacity that the storage can hold, this

machine will maneuver its body to the nearest SeaRo station to unload. It is

also programmed to shut down and go into charging mode and gather as

much solar energy or go back if solar energy is not available (e.g. cloudy,

during night) when its battery is exhausted to recharge.

Upon returning to the station, it will unload its waste content by itself
 and the plastic waste collected will be processed further into reusable plastic

pellets. The station also features direct recycling of plastics and turning them

into bottles via machine works.

IV References

Battling pollution in the Philippines’ largest lake. (2017, November 8). UN Environment

Programme; UN Environment Programme. https://www.unep.org/news-and

stories/story/battling-pollution-philippines-largest-lake

Lindwall, C. (2021, April 20). Single-use plastics 101. NRDC. Retrieved May 14, 2022,

from https://www.nrdc.org/stories/single-use-plastics

101#:~:text=We%20produce%20300%20million%20tons,to%20plastic%20producti on

%20and%20use).

Marine plastic pollution. IUCN. (2021, November 17). Retrieved May 14, 2022, from

https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-briefs/marine-plastic

pollution#:~:text=Impacts%20on%20marine%20ecosystems,stomachs%20becom e

%20filled%20with%20plastic.

Meet Fred – Clear Blue Sea. (2021). Clear Blue Sea. Retrieved May 14, 2022, from

https://www.clearbluesea.org/meet-fred/

SEAVAX SEA VAX ROBOTIC OCEAN PLASTIC OIL SPILL CLEANING SHREDDING
VACUUM DRONE SEAVAC HYDRO CYCLONES WORLD’S BIGGEST
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electric.net/oceanography/Ocean_Plastic_International_Rescue/SeaVax_Ocean_C
 lean_Up_Robot_Drone_Ship_Sea_Vacuum.htm
Verma, R., Vinoda, K. S., Papireddy, M., & Gowda, A. N. S. (2016). Toxic Pollutants from

Plastic Waste- A Review. Procedia Environmental Sciences, 35(35), 701– 708.

Sciencedirect. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proenv.2016.07.069