Robots Restore Waterways While Producing Synfuel
Robotics startup B.E.A.R. Group said it is looking to take back America’s waterways through an innovative and sustainable unit that eliminates duckweed and other invasive water plants.
The company has developed a patented, autonomous robot that restores waterways to their natural condition, also generating saleable synfuel in the process. According to B.E.A.R., the robot, titled Manatee, is a tool that is not only completely sustainable (both in the economic and natural senses), but is symbiotic to the environments it is placed in.
Dr. Tyrell Schreber, one of the minds behind the Manatee, said the robot’s development couldn’t have come at a better time, as issues related to clean water, land use, super storms and an ever-increasing population call for a much-needed solution to maintaining waterways efficiently, practically and sustainably. This is where the Manatee comes in.
“With the C3 initiative, what we’re really trying to do is provide the earth with some long overdue maintenance,” Dr. Schreber said. “With our Manatee Robots, that’s exactly what we’ve done, and to date, we’ve been extremely encouraged by the response.”
Schreber added that the extra byproduct of the Manatee’s work is the conversion of plant matter into useable synfuel which is immediately available for sale. And with so many weed-choked bodies of water around the U.S., the opportunity for mass use of the Mantee is great.
The B.E.A.R. Group explained that threats to waterways are serious and can cause serious harm to not just the environment, but animals and humans who share the space as well. Neglect from agricultural run-off, abandoned quarries and other standing water are ideal platforms for mosquitoes to breed and spread disease. Locations where algae blooms and pond scum form choke out oxygen levels, killing fish and other forms of life essential to the ecosystem.
Benefits that the Manatee can provide the environment include reduction in duckweed, algae and mosquito larvae, aeration of water (thereby reducing foul odors), returned vital nutrients into waterways, fish and shellfish can return to waterways, and fishermen and boaters can enjoy more areas to explore.
Capable of making fuel from any body of water with at least 100ppm of organic matter, the Manatee is equipped to revitalize lakes, streams rivers and ponds in a way that has not every been done, historically, the developers said.