Think the Earth

A robot that can automatically track heavy oil floating on the sea surface from a tanker oil spill was developed by Osaka University professor, Mr. Naomi Kato. This robot is 2.7 meters long, cylindrical, and is equipped with four blades for propulsion and maintaining direction. It can move about the surface and under the sea freely, gathering information about the heavy oil's location and the site of the accident to accurately predict how it would travel. This will help assist rapid recovery efforts.

As the robot is thrown into sea immediately after the incident, the oil detector monitors the heavy oil, plotting locations and the direction of the wind, and sending in real time, the data necessary to predict the oil's movement. If it loses track of the oil, it dives to a depth of up to 10 meters and starts looking for shadows cast by it by looking up to the sea surface with its camera. And then once it spots the oil, the robot will move towards the heavy oil's current location. The robot repeatedly adjusts its path as it tracks the oil, so it doesn't stray away from it.

Predominantly, it was impossible to track oil spills during the night, so　nothing could be done when it spread to a wider area. However, this robot can continue their pursuit even at night. And what's more, if you have several dozen robots pursuing the spill at one time, you can keep track of how far the heavy oil has spread.

Professor Kato states that "the robot can move for approximately 2 hours at the moment, but we would like to extend this to 2-3 weeks in the future, and hopefully put it to practical use by 2015". There are high hopes for these robots to be able to limit the damage caused to the environment and the fishing industry by oil spills.