It's a well known fact that oil spills have quite a negative impact on the marine environment. However it's impossible to guarantee that no oil tankers will be shipwrecked. But in case of a shipwreck the first thing to be done is to prevent the expansion of an oil spill. In fact it's not an easy task because the only way to do so is to surround it. Till now there wasn't a certain way to eliminate the oil spills from the water surface. Yet this gadget represents a great achievement in this domain.
It was called OSP robot. Using advance technologies, these robots autonomously work together to contain an oil spill by surrounding it with an inflatable barrier. So once contained, clean-up crews can clean the water surface.
Given gadget consists of three important modules:
- Boom control module: by the help of which it's possible to plan and control the motion of the whole system.
- Communication module: due to the installed GSP system and radio antenna OSP can communicate with other units.
- Propulsion module: two motor-driven propeller screws are mounted in the unit and can be easily exchanged in case of malfunction
In addition to this OSP robot has a solar panel that can collect photo voltaic energy, supplying thus power to drive motor. As regards its oil protection boom it should be mentioned that it's stored in body and is rapidly rolled out in oil spill protection operation.
With the help of its simple and modular structure, OSP unit can be transported to the accident site rapidly and commence its mission immediately. Like a torpedo and mine operation in navy, OSP can be deployed from a helicopter or boat and accomplish its mission through the multi-robot control algorithms, being thus an extremely useful invention.
