In order to reduce labor and ensure safety for volunteers when cleaning up trash on rivers and canals, the Saigon Xanh group has recently tested a garbage collector robot on the Hy Vong canal (HCMC). It is known that this is the initiative of a student of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technical Education, who is also a volunteer of the group.
According to Mr. Nguyen Luong Ngoc - President of Saigon Xanh Club (under the Vietnam Youth Union of Ho Chi Minh City), the author of this robot has just joined the club, and during a group activity, he proposed the idea.
"Seeing the feasible idea, we strongly called on donors to sponsor the cost of purchasing components, while you put in the time and effort to manufacture them. After about 2 months, the robot was completed and put into testing" - Mr. Ngoc said.
According to the design, the robot is capable of collecting floating garbage with light weight such as foam, plastic bottles, nylon bags. The robot is compact in size, moving on two duck feet similar to a boat, with remote control. At top, there are solar panels, helping to save electricity and be environmentally friendly.
However, the battery needs charging time and depends on the weather. When it is sunny, the robot can operate continuously for many hours.
The trash can currently have a capacity of about 80 liters. In particular, in addition to the garbage collection function, robots can support emergency rescue situations, helping to increase versatility.
"According to calculations, this robot can pull 3 people with a total weight of about 210 kg" - Mr. Ngoc said.
Since completion, the robot has been tested on 2 channels, including the Hy Vong canal. The effectiveness is assessed at about 6/10 compared to initial expectations.
"With floating garbage and moderate density, the robot operates stably. However, in shallow canals or garbage is too dense, the pushing force is not strong enough, causing the efficiency to decrease. In the near future, the group will continue to upgrade and improve to overcome these limitations" - Mr. Ngoc shared.
The long-term goal of Saigon Xanh is to turn robots into effective support tools for volunteers, helping to collect garbage from a distance to near the shore, reducing the need to wade into deep water, which is potentially dangerous.
In parallel with the robot project to collect garbage, the group is deploying a garbage buoy system on many canals.
To date, the group has installed 24 points, blocking dozens of tons of floating garbage every day. The new version of the buoy allows volunteers to stand directly on the buoy to collect garbage, instead of wading into the water, expected to launch in September.
"If the robot proves its effectiveness after the testing phase, we will replicate this model in many other channels in Ho Chi Minh City. With more robots, collecting garbage on the water surface will significantly reduce the pressure on humans" - the group representative affirmed.
