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Trash drone tackles pollution in northwest Ohio waterways
wtol.com • • science
Key Points:
- The Black Swamp Conservancy's PixieDrone is a small, battery-powered drone designed to collect trash from northwest Ohio waterways, including the Sandusky and Maumee rivers, by scooping up man-made plastics and bottles.
- Operated by college students using a wireless controller and front camera, the drone can collect about a pound of trash per hour during six-hour sessions every Saturday.
- The PixieDrone is part of the Council of the Great Lakes Region's plastic cleanup initiative aimed at removing waste from waterways and helping restore wetlands to reduce nutrient runoff that contributes to algal blooms in Lake Erie.
- Operators plan to track the type, weight, and location of collected trash through the fall and hope to add sensors to monitor water depth, temperature, and GPS data to provide detailed information for public and official use.
