By Maya Furukawa and
Marina Del Rey - In Early March, I visited one of the Clean Earth Rovers sites to see how the company uses technology as a means to prevent marine pollution. The company was founded by CEO Michael Arens, with the goal of creating technology to better our environment. Clean Earth Rovers operates out of several Southern California waterways, including San Pedro, Wilmington, Huntington Harbor, and Newport Harbor, and hopes to expand into Marina Del Rey in the near future. In January of this year, Clean Earth Rovers launched four Rover AVPro™ autonomous cleaning robots into the Port of Los Angeles, reaching all 15 of its Marinas. These robots specialize as autonomous surface vessels designed to remove debris from the various bodies of water before it gets out to the ocean.
The Rover resembles a pontoon-style boat, with a collection system built into its center. During my visit, I was able to watch the team use their rovers around the Cabrillo aWay Marina. They’re controlled via remote or iPhone, allowing the operator to move the rover around the surface of the water and collect any trash. Each rover’s bag can catch up to 100 to 150 pounds of trash and can be emptied and reused in under five minutes, making this operation not only environmentally conscious but also efficient. According to CER, these rovers can clean up to 25 acres in an eight-hour shift on one battery charge.
Each day, the team begins by visiting each harbor, taking note of the conditions at each location. This allows them to determine whether or not the harbor is heavily polluted, identify and map “trash hotspots”, and log any environmental conditions such as weather and water visibility. They then get the rovers into the water. Depending on how much trash is found in the marina, the amount of time they spend at each site varies. When their clean is done, they remove the rovers, weigh the trash collected, and dispose of the waste using the marina’s facilities. They also collect photos at each site, providing a visual log of any impact. After this process has been completed, they move on to their next location. A notable aspect of this technology is its minimal impact on the surrounding environment. The Rovers are fairly small, move at a slow pace of only 5 mph, and are extremely quiet. This creates very minimal disruption for not only marine life, but also boaters. Since the rovers only collect debris at the surface of the water, it makes it easy for any marine life to avoid them. According to the company, so far, they have not yet caught a single animal.
Another piece of technology Clean Earth Rovers is working on is “smart buoys”, which are water quality testing buoys. These buoys collect water samples and test them every thirty minutes, then send the data directly to an app. This app can then track bacteria levels, algae blooms, and potential fish that are killed. For coastal communities such as Santa Monica, this technology could provide beachgoers, lifeguards, and officials with faster and more accurate safety information than ever before. As marine pollution continues to impact Southern California, Clean Earth Rovers is expanding from a local startup to a regional operation focused on removing thousands of pounds of trash from our marinas and oceans. Their mission is to clean the Southern California waterways, one rover, one harbor, and one bag of trash at a time.