Australian engineers at RMIT University have created an unusual helper for dealing with oil spills — a small robot shaped like a dolphin. The device, called Electronic Dolphin, glides across the water’s surface and collects the oil film, separating it from water with more than 95 percent purity.
The prototype is about the size of a sneaker and is remotely controlled. A special filter is installed in its front section, through which a pump draws in the contaminated liquid. The oil then accumulates in an internal tank.
The main technological breakthrough is the filter’s special material. Its surface is covered with microscopic protrusions resembling sea urchin spines. They trap air bubbles: water hardly sticks to this coating, while oil, on the contrary, adheres to it. As a result, the filter can extract oil while absorbing almost no water and remains lightweight and reusable.
In laboratory tests, the robot collected about two milliliters of oil per minute. At present, the device can operate for about 15 minutes on a single charge, but the engineers plan to increase battery capacity. In the future, they intend to create larger autonomous versions of the robot. These could clean water on their own, return to base for unloading, and recharge.
Oil spills remain one of the most serious environmental problems: they destroy marine ecosystems, cause enormous harm to animals, and require huge costs to clean up. If the engineers succeed in turning the project into a scalable solution, we may one day see entire fleets of "smart" ecological helpers.
