Robot gobbles up blue-green algae on Sudbury lakes

A newly unveiled robot is aiming to reduce the amount of blue-green algae scum on lakes in and around Sudbury and perhaps one day in other parts of the world.

The robot is called Odin 1.5, and its the brainchild of a group of Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School grads, all of whom were members of the robotics team when they were in high school.

Up North6:45Robot removing algae from northern lakes

A Sudbury company has come up with a robot that could help clean the algae from our waterways.

Theyve since gone on to university, but not before creating their own company, Northern Ontario Robotics Solutions and Equipment (NORSE).

Were all pretty passionate about robotics, so its nice to be able to do something you love and help the environment, said Matteo Neville, one of the inventors.

Neville said they chose to target the blue-green algae problem after one of his co-inventors mothers raised the issue to the group. She is on the Simon Lake Stewardship Committee, the lake where the robot is currently gobbling up the algae.

The inventors say one advantage of Odin 1.5 is its size.

The robot resembles a small boat. Its about 10 feet long, four feet wide, and has a conveyor on the front. That conveyor is what picks up the algae scum from the water, where it then stores it on a blue metal platform.

There are other machines like this, but theyre the size of floating barges made of steel, said Charles Ramcharan, an associate biology professor at Laurentian University, and an advisor of the project.

Those other machines operate in very deep water, and take out everything, including all aquatic plants. This machine leaves that aquatic life in so it can shade the water and reduce the growth of blooms.

One of the causes of blue-green algae is a high level of phosphorus in the lake.

Hopefully in the long run well be able to take out enough algae that it reduces the phosphorus level so it wont be a problem anymore, Neville said, talking about the cycle where in the algae grows, eats phosphorus, dies, and then releases the element back into the lake.

Encouraging innovation in young people

Ramcharan says the work Neville and NORSE are doing is impressive for such young entrepreneurs.

This is a message to younger people that there are environmental problems that they can just get up and solve, he said. We need to start thinking about innovation.

The inventors feel as though their relative inexperience gives them an advantage.

One of the big things were key on is keeping it simple, said Neville. We dont know everything we could know, so we dont over-design things When we keep it simple like this, its just so much more cost efficient and easier to manufacture.

Eventually, Neville said the inventors hope to sell Odin 1.5 to a larger market.

This summers working model is already the second re-design of the robot, and in the future the group is hoping to revamp the frame to create a better unit.

Theres a big blue-green algae problem all around the world, so hopefully we can eventually expand into other countries, too, Neville said.