An estimated 11 million tons of plastic waste end up in the world’s oceans every year. Ocean cleaning enterprises often face difficulties with dated technology, cost, and efficiency. Back in January, we informed you about the ClearBot designed to remove plastic waste from areas such as harbors, lakes, and canals.
Now in celebration of World Oceans Day, the startup behind that marine waste cleaning robot has announced a partnership with Razer, the leading global lifestyle brand for gamers, to redesign its intelligent robots. The partnership will take place as part of Razer’s 10-year sustainability roadmap to support environment- and sustainability-focused startups by equipping them with the right tools and capabilities to help them scale.
The ClearBot robots leverage AI-vision to identify different types of marine plastic waste and collect information regarding these pollutants in the oceans to protect aquatic life. The robots are deployed to retrieve marine plastic waste, which is then responsibly disposed of.
Through the partnership, Razer’s engineers and designers have volunteered personal time and technical expertise to help transform the ClearBot prototype into a scalable, mass-marketable product, so they can be used worldwide and thus help clean the seas. Together, they improved the prototype of the device, making it smarter and more efficient.
The newly designed and fully automated robot is armed with cutting-edge AI and machine learning capabilities that can detect marine plastics within two meters in rough waters. The robot can collect up to 250 kg of plastics in just one cycle while running on solar-powered energy.
“We are extremely happy to have the opportunity to work with a startup focused on saving the environment,” said Patricia Liu, Chief of Staff at Razer. “ClearBot’s unique AI and advanced machine learning technology will enable and empower governments and organizations around the world to broaden their sustainability efforts. We urge other innovative startups to reach out to Razer for collaboration opportunities as we strive to make the world a safer place for future generations.“
To get the community involved on this year’s World Oceans Day, ClearBot has issued a call out to its supporters to help it gather more data on the plastic problem by uploading photos of marine plastic waste commonly found in open waters onto its website. The data will be used to help improve the robot’s detection algorithm.
