Students make rubbish-collecting machine that runs on solar energy

They first had the the idea after noticing that sanitary workers on boats on the canals were picking up hyacinth with their hands, which affects their health.

Though municipal authorities allocate big budget to sanitary work, it is not highly
efficient, they said. 

Thi, after many field trips, discovered that many canals in the city suffered from pollution caused by garbage and hyacinth. The situation was particularly serious on Phan Van Han canal in Binh Thanh district, Ong Do Canal in district 7 and Nuoc Den canal in Binh Tan.

“The canals are covered with ‘garbage layers’ which are so thick that the water cannot run through it. As a result, the canals have turned into stagnant ponds which emit bad odors and serve as places for mosquitoes to multiply,” Thi said. 

“Petechial fever, worms and diarrhea are commonly seen diseases in the residential quarters near the canals,” he said. 

The robot is equipped with two buoys on the sides to float on the water, while a bucket in front of the robot picks up rubbish and hyacinth, which is linked with two pull engines. 

Thi and Nhan put a solar cell on the roof of the robot that can rotate 360 degrees to receive sunlight. The robot operates with solar energy and doesn’t cause pollution. 

Inside the robot are control boxes containing circuits and a battery. A propeller is installed inside which contains a hold under a tray which dries garbage and hyacinth.

The robot’s electronic parts include central electric circuits that control the engines and manage the switching between the battery energy and solar energy. Users can control the robot manually with a joystick.

However, the robot remains a model. The two students don’t have money to complete the creation of the product.

Nhan said as the robot is small, it cannot do all the work if it has to pick up garbage in large canals and rivers. Users need to consider the scale of the canals and rivers to determine how many robots to use. 

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