The design is a small, around 6-7 foot, autonomous marine vehicle that floats on the surface of the water. The vehicle has meshnet sacks attached to its sides to collect plastic pollution and pontoons to stay afloat. The vehicle will navigate its way through a designated section of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch with the use of a computer vision system. After its collection sacks are full, it will return to a floating home base where the sacks will be removed and new sacks will be added and will then be sent out again.
This machine would be light and energy-efficient to run. The issue is that there would need to be a fleet of them in order to effectively tackle the plastic pollution problem.
Pains
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch between Hawaii and California is obstructing animal and human pathways while also harming the environment. Many species of animals are dying off and going extinct due to the repercussions of this litter. As a consequence, we are depleting our own food supply and quality of life on this planet by allowing this atrocity to continue. Global warming is an immediate result of our natural ecosystems being out of balance, just like the pacific ocean is currently due to the garbage patch.
Potential Gains
A solution will create more area for swimmers and divers and make it safer for them to be in the water. It will also create jobs for waste collecting companies and help us discover new ways to utilize recycled plastics. Most importantly, a solution will help protect our planet from becoming uninhabitable due to the toxic pollution infiltrating the ocean and all of our supply.