What it does
SeaSweeper is our effort to safeguard our planet's most precious resource: water. Our mission is to revolutionize marine conservation through technology, focusing on oil spill remediation, trash collection, and ecosystem restoration as well as disclosing water quality information to the public, allowing them to monitor and report bodies of water that they believe need to be “swept”. Our hack consists of two main components: a hardware prototype designed to clean and monitor water bodies, and a software component that serves as the hub for data sharing and community engagement. Our hardware prototype is a small bot (called “sweeper”) that operates under water, collecting data and relaying it back. In addition to collecting data, this bot is also a way of directly taking action; its modules efficiently collect and separate oil from water, collect debris such as plastic and other waste, detects elevated temperatures and deposits iron minerals to stimulate phytoplankton growth (reducing CO2 levels and preserving marine ecosystems), and monitors carbon dioxide levels to raise awareness and facilitate informed environmental decisions. Our software component is a website that relies primarily on a map displaying the locations of all of our aquatic bots or sweepers. Users are able to browse wherever they want, but can also use their own location or even input a specific one. Blue dots represent sweepers, and clicking them displays the bot’s name and data. Gray dots, on the other hand, represent centers that own sweepers, and, if a user happens to notice a body a water that they think needs to be swept, they have the possibility of looking for the nearest center and sending them a report.
Inspiration
Our project was driven by the understanding that water quality issues are interconnected; addressing only one aspect isn't enough to ensure clean water. This realization led us to create a bot capable of tackling multiple challenges simultaneously, aiming for a holistic improvement in water health. The name "SeaSweeper" draws inspiration from two sources. Firstly, it's the name of a fish, reflecting the bot's aquatic environment and its seamless integration into water ecosystems. Secondly, the concept is influenced by the movie "Space Sweepers," which centers around a ship collecting space debris. This parallel captures our bot's mission: to clean and protect water bodies by removing pollutants and monitoring environmental conditions.
How we built it
For the hardware prototype, we utilized an Arduino as the brain of our operation, combined with materials like cardboard, tape, and scrap pieces of aluminum foil and straws. Our goal was to reuse materials effectively, crafting a prototype that could represent our vision with whatever resources we had available. On the software side, we primarily used Webflow to develop the website. To incorporate a navigation and searching system, we integrated Mapbox. This allowed us to create and embed a map on our site, making it easy for users to find the locations of SeaSweepers and Sweeper Centers through markers and popups.
Challenges we ran into
The main challenge was undoubtedly the hardware aspect. Initially, we lacked the necessary components but were committed to creating a tangible prototype. After acquiring an Arduino, we faced numerous obstacles, particularly with outdated and deprecated databases that severely limited our implementation possibilities. Consequently, we were unable to link our hardware with our website as initially planned, which would have allowed for some basic real-time data transmission.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
Despite the challenges, we're proud of our ingenuity in building the hardware prototype basically from scratch with readily available materials like cardboard boxes and aluminum trays from the dining hall. This process required creativity and resourcefulness, allowing us to visualize our concept tangibly. Moreover, we enhanced our skills with Webflow and learned how to use Mapbox, a tool we found to be exceptionally useful and powerful.
What we learned
In developing SeaSweeper, we deepened our expertise of Webflow and were introduced to Mapbox for the first time, learning how to leverage these tools for web development and interactive mapping. Additionally, the project served as several of our's first experience with hardware design, teaching us the basics of building and programming devices for environmental monitoring.
What's next for SeaSweeper
Moving forward, our focus is on integrating real-time data transmission between our hardware and software, incorporating more functional sensors, and developing a fully operational device capable of navigating and cleaning water bodies as designed. This progression would transform SeaSweeper from concept to reality.
Track
We are pursuing the Environment Track.
Log in or sign up for Devpost to join the conversation.