Valencia, Spain is testing a beach cleaning robot this summer. The device called PlatjaBot – is a caterpillar-type vehicle that can collect up to 10 centimeters of soil at a time and sift through it to remove any waste. The trash accumulates in a deposit tank in the rear of the vehicle, which is then emptied into waste containers at the beach.
PlatjaBot has the capability to clean five square kilometers of beach on a single charge and can collect up to 330 units of waste per square kilometer. It runs on clean energy – both solar-derived and energy stored in batteries – and has the capacity for seven hours of uninterrupted work.
Its AI sensors have been trained to recognize people and obstacles and go around them, even at night or in adverse weather. Its built-in gyroscope will signal for it to lock itself down automatically if there is any sudden movement change, such as attempted vandalism.
This PlatjaBot pilot project is part of Valencia’s Municipal Sandbox Ordinance, which was approved earlier this year. According to the City, the ordinance is a regulation that “allows technology to be tested in an experimental phase in a real environment, such as the entire city of Valencia, and do so without the cumbersome administrative procedures that usually accompany these authorizations.”
“We are the first Spanish city to have a law that allows technology to be tested in a real environment,” said Valencia mayor, Maria Jose Catala. “The robot is the world’s first of its kind that works autonomously. This is a technology that emerges from Valencia within the framework of the Green Capital, and welcome it is, because this is our commitment: we are the first Green Capital of the Mediterranean and we want to continue taking steps forward in cleaning the sea and the entire coastal area.”