Concept Ship Hull Grooming Robot (2020)
Ship hull biofouling poses aquatic and human health dangers and increases fuel costs due to drag for the world’s commercial shipping fleet alone by as much as $7.5 billion per year. A possible solution to reduce invasive species, fuel costs, time, and energy is to continuously clean a hull while the ship is underway. In this research we introduce a conceptual design of a hull grooming robot. Additionally, we demonstrate a proof-of-concept attachment and locomotion subsystem of such robot for attaching to ferrous and non-ferrous surfaces underwater.
