Bangkok (VNA) – Thailand’s Department of Marine and CoastalResources is developing an AI robot to trap debris before it reaches the sea soas to prevent loss of marine life to plastic bags.

The robots are expected to be launched by the end of this year.

The prototype robot was unveiled on August 22 at a meeting of hundreds of localpartners who are collaborating to protect marine resources in 22 coastalprovinces.

According to Cholanat Yanaranop, president of SCG Chemicals, the robot was thebrainchild of last year’s “SCG-DMCR Litter Trap” project aimed at preventingdiscarded plastic bags entering the sea.

Dubbed the SCG Smart Litter Trap 4.0, the prototype robot is 1.5 metres longand 1.2 metres high, and has the capacity to collect about five kilogrammes ofplastic per trip. Powered by a solar panel, the internet of things (IoT) devicealso boasts machine-learning properties that allow it to adapt to the task.

The robot is programmed to collect plasticwaste only by trawling the river guided by a mobile phone signal. It is apractical solution and communicates well with users, Cholanat said.

He added the working robot's capacity would be increased to over 100kg of plasticwaste, saying his company has patented the technology, which could be used indeveloping countries where marine debris is a problem.

The robot is modelled on the SCG-DMCR Litter Trap, which used trap doors thatopened to collect waste as it flowed with the tide. The originalfish-basket-shaped trap runs 5 metres in length by 1.8 metres high and has amuch larger waste capacity of 700kg. However, the trap is immobile and collectseverything, meaning the plastic waste has to be sorted by hand, which is timeconsuming.

On August 22, the company handed 20 of these traps to the department, whichplans to use them in pilot projects at 20 locations in 13 provinces, includingPetchaburi, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phangnga and Phuket.

Wijarn Simachaya, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Natural Resources andEnvironment, said the ministry was working at the local and internationallevels to reduce plastic bag consumption, pointing to the Bangkok Declarationon Marine Debris Management announced by ASEAN leaders at their summit earlierthis month and backed with funding from the World Bank and Asian DevelopmentBank.

“It takes around 450 years for plastic to decay in the sea, and we only startedto use it 80 years ago. This a chapter in our challenge to live in anenvironment under severe pressure from marine debris and climate change,"he said.

Thailand has been named the sixth-highest marine polluter in the world. About2,172 tonnes of the 24 million tonnes of waste Thailand produces annually findsits way to the sea. About 57 percent of that garbage is plastic waste.-VNA