A beach cleaning robot is undergoing trial operations on a beach in Sanya City in south China's island province of Hainan, helping sanitation workers remove garbage buried deep in sand.
The intelligent tracked robot was developed by researchers at Shanghai Jiao Tong University Hainan Research Institute, who nicknamed it "beach dog".
"Sanitation workers can just pick up garbage on the surface, but it can dig out buried garbage," said Tan Changxiao, a post graduate student at the institute.
"It can help us to do something we can’t do. It can clear up garbage hidden in every nook and corner, or buried in sand, which is hard to reach and find," said Li Wenying, a sanitation worker.
The "beach dog" collects garbage from the beach in four steps - plowing, shaking, dropping, and flattening, according to Tan.
"Plowing means that the comb-shaped teeth can plow out all garbage. Shaking means separating the garbage from the sand by shaking the sieve mesh. Dropping means putting garbage into a collection case, and flattening means using a rake to flatten the holes," said Tan.
The robot can recharge itself using solar power and its battery can be replaced rapidly, enabling it to work in high temperatures and strong sunshine for a long time during peak tourism periods.
"It can clean around 2,000 square meters per hour. With a battery replacement, it can work for eight hours," said Tan.
Robot helps sanitation workers keep Hainan beaches clean
