Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Development of Garbage Collecting Robot for Marine Microplastics

Researchers designed and developed an autonomous cleaning robot for collecting marine microplastics scattered on beaches, using a conveyor belt and tray system to mechanically gather and retain small plastic particles. The study addresses the practical difficulty of manually collecting dispersed microplastics and demonstrates the robot's configuration and operational concept for beach remediation.

2024 The Proceedings of JSME annual Conference on Robotics and Mechatronics (Robomec)
Article Tier 2

Automatic Beach Cleaning Robot

Researchers designed a portable automatic beach cleaning robot for collecting plastic debris from sandy beaches to reduce marine pollution and protect aquatic ecosystems.

2023 INTERANTIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH IN ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT
Article Tier 2

How to Deal With Seafloor Marine Litter: An Overview of the State-of-the-Art and Future Perspectives

This review examined the state of the art for detecting and removing marine litter from the seafloor, finding that while surface and beach litter has received substantial attention, seafloor litter remains understudied and that emerging technologies including underwater robotics offer promising future cleanup pathways.

2020 Frontiers in Marine Science 106 citations
Article Tier 2

Development of Garbage Collecting Robot for Marine Microplastics

This paper describes the design of a robot intended to collect microplastics from beaches, addressing the practical challenge that hand collection of scattered, tiny plastic particles is impractical at scale. Laboratory experiments characterized how sand behaves under the robot's excavation mechanism, providing engineering data for building autonomous marine microplastic cleanup devices.

2024 3 citations
Article Tier 2

A novel autonomous microplastics surveying robot for beach environments

Researchers developed a novel autonomous robotic platform for detecting and chemically analyzing microplastics on beach surfaces, using a camera mounted on a robotic arm end effector to scan areas and identify particles smaller than 5 mm. The mobile manipulator system automatically locates and chemically characterizes microplastics in situ, addressing the challenge of large-scale environmental monitoring in coastal environments.

2025 ArXiv.org
Article Tier 2

A Spiral-Propulsion Amphibious Intelligent Robot for Land Garbage Cleaning and Sea Garbage Cleaning

Not relevant to microplastics research; this paper presents the design and testing of an amphibious robot capable of collecting garbage from beaches, tidal flats, and the ocean surface, but does not analyze microplastic pollution specifically.

2023 Journal of Marine Science and Engineering 13 citations
Article Tier 2

Design and Development of Smart Beach Debris Collection and Segregation System

Researchers designed and built a smart automated system for collecting and segregating beach debris, using sensors and robotics to identify and sort plastic waste from natural material on shorelines. The system demonstrated effective separation of plastic debris in field tests.

2024 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Development of Garbage Collecting Robot for Marine Microplastics

Researchers developed a garbage-collecting robot designed to remove plastic debris from coastal areas before it degrades into microplastics, addressing the logistical challenge of cleaning extensive shorelines with minimal human labor and resources.

2025 The Proceedings of JSME annual Conference on Robotics and Mechatronics (Robomec)
Article Tier 2

Autonomous Beach Cleaner Robot: A Mechatronic and Control Approach for Sustainable Coastal Pollution Management at Peru

Researchers designed an autonomous solar-powered beach cleaning robot for Peru that uses ultrasonic sensors and a sieving mechanism to detect and collect microplastics and other coastal debris, following a V-model design methodology.

2024 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Are micro/nanorobots an effective solution to eliminate micro/nanoplastics in water/wastewater treatment plants?

Researchers reviewed micro/nanorobots as an emerging strategy for removing microplastics from water, finding that while these tiny magnetically or optically driven devices can capture particles through electrostatic interactions, their high cost, fuel dependence, low plastic degradation efficiency, and risk of secondary pollution currently limit practical deployment.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Unmanned Vehicles System Utilizing Waste Tracking Data to Tackle Plastic Marine Littering on Tourist Islands

This paper proposes using unmanned vehicles guided by waste tracking data to collect plastic marine litter around tourist islands. Autonomous cleanup technology could help remove plastic debris before it breaks down into microplastics and enters the food chain.

2021 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Remediation of micro- and nanoplastics by robotic technology: Performance, critical factors and marketing barriers

This review examines how micro- and nano-robotic technologies can be used to target and remove microplastic and nanoplastic particles from water. Researchers evaluated the performance of various robotic systems powered by light, magnetic fields, or chemical reactions, and found they show promise for precise pollutant removal at small scales. The study identifies cost-effectiveness and scaling up from laboratory to real-world applications as the main barriers to commercialization.

2025 Journal of Environmental Management 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Unveiling coastal pollution: A multi-technology approach to micro and macro litter assessment for the environmental characterization of beaches

Researchers conducted a multi-technology environmental characterization of a Mediterranean beach in southern Italy, simultaneously measuring microplastic density and beach litter composition using innovative low-impact procedures, providing a replicable framework for assessing combined micro-to-macro plastic pollution in coastal environments.

2025 Marine Pollution Bulletin 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Improvement and Empirical Testing of a Novel Autonomous Microplastics-Collecting Semisubmersible

Researchers improved an autonomous microplastic-collecting robot, testing design modifications that enhanced sampling efficiency and navigation in surface water environments, moving toward practical automated monitoring of plastic pollution.

2024 arXiv (Cornell University)
Article Tier 2

Artificial intelligence-empowered collection and characterization of microplastics: A review

This review examines how artificial intelligence tools like robots and machine learning are being used to collect, identify, and characterize microplastic pollution more efficiently. Better detection technology matters for human health because accurately measuring microplastic contamination in water and soil is the first step toward understanding and reducing our exposure.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 41 citations
Article Tier 2

Investigating the evolution of the technologies for collecting microplastics

This review investigates the evolution of technologies designed for collecting microplastics from the environment, comparing collection methods across a range of systems to identify the most suitable approaches and guide future technology development.

2022 Journal of Environmental Management 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Trash Collection Gadget: A Multi-Purpose Design of Interactive and Portable Solution for Beach Cleanup

This study designed and prototyped a playful robotic cleanup system with three components intended to collect beach litter while engaging families and children during visits. The device was conceived as an interactive educational tool that makes beach cleanup accessible and enjoyable for the public.

2024 E3S Web of Conferences 1 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Exploring the Potential of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles for Microplastic Detection in Marine Environments: A Systematic Review

This systematic review explores how autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) could be used to detect microplastics in the ocean in real time, replacing slower traditional sampling methods. While promising, the technology is still developing and faces challenges with sensor accuracy and deep-water operation. Better detection tools like these could help scientists understand how widespread microplastic contamination really is in marine environments.

2025 Drones
Article Tier 2

Towards Accessible Aquatic Cleanup: A Low-Cost Solution for Floating Waste Extraction

Researchers designed and tested a low-cost autonomous floating waste extractor using a conveyor mechanism to capture lightweight surface pollutants including microplastics, demonstrating high efficiency in capturing debris and offering an affordable solution for resource-constrained settings.

2025 SciEn Conference Series Engineering
Article Tier 2

Robotic Vacuum Cleaner for Microplastics

Researchers developed a robotic device capable of vacuuming up tiny plastic particles floating on the surface of water bodies, offering a new tool for cleaning up microplastic pollution in lakes, ponds, or coastal areas. The device represents a step toward automated, scalable approaches for removing microplastics from aquatic environments.

2025 Physics
Systematic Review Tier 1

Exploring the Potential of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles for Microplastic Detection in Marine Environments: A Review

This review explores how autonomous underwater vehicles equipped with sensors could detect microplastics directly in the ocean, rather than relying on labor-intensive water sampling. Current detection methods are slow and expensive, making real-time monitoring difficult. Advances in onboard sensing technology could dramatically improve our understanding of where microplastics concentrate in marine environments.

2025 Preprints.org
Article Tier 2

Microplastics on Santos Beach: Sources of Pollution, Waste Characteristics and Possible Collection Solutions

Researchers characterized microplastics collected from three zones of Santos beach in Brazil, finding contamination dominated by fragments and films near sewage outfalls. The study highlights inadequate waste management as the primary driver of beach microplastic accumulation and assessed feasibility of mechanical collection interventions.

2025 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

A Proposed Technology Solution for Preventing Marine Littering Based on Uavs and Iot Cloud-based Data Analytics

This paper proposes a technological solution using unmanned aerial vehicles and automated collection systems to prevent marine littering at coastal hotspots. The approach aims to intercept plastic waste before it enters the ocean and breaks down into microplastics.

2019 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Micro/nanorobots for efficient removal and degradation of micro/nanoplastics

This paper reviews how tiny self-propelled robots at the micro and nanoscale could be used to capture and remove microplastics from water. These robots can be designed to target specific types of plastic particles and move through water on their own, offering advantages over traditional filtration methods. While still in early development, this technology could eventually provide a practical way to reduce microplastic contamination in drinking water and aquatic environments.

2023 Cell Reports Physical Science 32 citations