Offshore oil spills can be a devastating consequence of offshore drilling for fossil fuels. Oil spills can affect local plants and animals and wreak havoc on ecosystems. Oil spills vary in size, some small, some large. Based on numerous oil spills, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association estimates that there have been about 44 spills of more than 420,000 gallons since 1969.
These oil spills are still happening in the ocean today. A number of clean-up methods exist, including containment booms to contain spills if the affected area has not expanded, and skimmers to try to "skim" the water. However, these methods require a lot of manual labor.
Researchers have developed a new type of solar-powered robots (called Neusbots, for "creatures" that float on the surface of the water) that can float above the water and reach more remote ocean regions. These robots are hydrophobic and highly resistant to salt, allowing them to survive long periods of time in the open ocean.
Neusbots are also designed to be highly controllable and powered by mechanical oscillations. There aren't many ways to use light to achieve this controlled movement, the researchers explain, and the team solved this problem using a three-layer film like a steam engine.
The power of Neusbots is very similar to that of early train engines, except that they are powered by light. The robot converts sunlight into heat and water into steam to generate the energy the robot needs to move. So light powers the robots, and water gives them the fuel to move around.
Next, the team will further improve the robot's precise mobility, while also planning to test the robot with additional materials to help it absorb the recent oil spill.
A research paper entitled Light-powered Soft Steam Engines for Self-Adaptive Oscillation and Biomimetic swimming was published in Science Robotics.
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