researchers of the Conicet and of the University of La Plata They presented this Thursday the first autonomous solar robot manufactured in Argentina, capable of collecting waste in bodies of water and surveying hydro-environmental variables, reported that house of higher studies.
The device was developed by the company Recycler Pampa Argentinadedicated to caring for the environment, together with the Institute for Research in Electronics, Control and Signal Processing (LEICI, CONICET-UNLP) of the academic unit.
“The robot has the ability to clean surface waste up to 40 cm deep, in rivers, lagoons and ports, among others. This depth is where bottles, bags, microplastics and floating hydrocarbons are usually found, which are among the main pollutants of watercourses”, explained Juan Luis Rosendofrom LEICI,
The researcher indicated that the company “contributed its knowledge in the area of waste treatment and cleaning of bodies of water, while LEICI contributed with the automation of the system.”
“Specifically, the automation consisted of the design, dimensioning and electronic integration of a modular hardware architecture on board (speed controllers, computer, sensors, antenna, etc.), and the development of the control logic to achieve the autonomy of robot,” he explained.
He pointed out that “the latter is not a trivial development, but involved the application of models and control techniques developed specifically for this robot, as well as the integration of data fusion algorithms to capture information from the various sensors to board”.
To graph, Rosendo added that “The operation is similar to a home robot vacuum cleaner, but with the difficulties involved in moving in a liquid medium and unstructured environments such as ports and rivers, where external disturbances are present and must be able to be compensated from the robot’s control.”
“At the same time, following a line of ecological development, the robot is designed so that, through solar panels placed on its roof, it can recharge its batteries while it is in operation,” he specified.
For his part, the president and founder of Recyclamer Pampa Argentina, Alan D ́ Alfonso Peral, stated that “it is very good to be here at the Faculty because it shows the technological and educational competitiveness that exists in Argentina. Argentines are very decisive. With few resources we can do a lot”.
