Build of a low-cost autonomous surface vehicle for plastic waste collection on water bodies

Abstract

The indiscriminate disposal of waste in Ghana is a pervasive problem that continues to be a big challenge for different governments. Most of this plastic waste ends up in drainages and other water bodies, posing a serious threat to both humans and marine life. Poor plastic waste disposal is a major contributor to the perennial flooding experienced in Accra as most of the plastic waste ends up drainages and impedes the flow of water during heavy rainfall. Nonetheless, there have been attempts by governements and other private institutions to solve the plastic waste menace. For instance, the government deploys trained personal who use boats with nets to remove all the plastic waste floating on the water body. This method, however, is costly, and risky as government has to cater for the costs incurred in using the services of these people as well as fuel. The workers who are involved are exposed to health risks considering the fact that some of the plastic waste may contain harmful chemicals. This project, thus, proposes a more efficient way of collecting plastic waste floating on water bodies with the aid of autonomous surface vehicle that can be operated remotely through a website. By eliminating the need for many human workers, cost is reduced and risks associated with working on water bodies are avoided. The boat was designed to carry a maximum payload of about 5kg. During testing of the whole system, the boat was inserted into the towing tank and it floated well and was able to pick up a sample waste this dumped in the water.