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

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

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

Beach Cleaning Robots a Comprehensive Survey of Technologies Challenges, and Future Directions

This paper is not relevant to microplastics; it is a survey of robotic technologies and methodologies for automated beach cleaning and litter removal.

2023 International Research Journal of Modernization in Engineering Technology and Science 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

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

Marine Sediment Sampling With an Underwater Legged Robot: A User-Driven Sampling Approach for Microplastic Analysis

Researchers developed a novel marine sediment sampling system using an underwater legged robot designed specifically for microplastic assessment studies. The system was built to meet the requirements of marine biologists, allowing precise sediment collection at controlled depths with minimal disturbance, enabling more reliable and repeatable microplastic sampling in underwater environments.

2024 IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine 14 citations
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

MantaRay: A novel autonomous sampling instrument for in situ measurements of environmental microplastic particle concentrations

Engineers developed MantaRay, an autonomous instrument that can measure microplastic particle concentrations in the ocean in real time without requiring a research ship or human operator. Automated monitoring devices like this could make large-scale, cost-effective mapping of microplastic distribution across the ocean much more feasible.

2015 20 citations
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

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
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

SMACC: A System for Microplastics Automatic Counting and Classification

Researchers developed an automated computer vision system (SMACC) that uses image analysis to count and classify plastic particles in beach samples, demonstrating that machine learning can substantially reduce the time and effort required for large-scale beach microplastic monitoring.

2020 IEEE Access 69 citations
Article Tier 2

Unmanned Vehicle and Hyperspectral Imager for a More Rapid Microplastics Sampling and Analysis

Researchers tested a combination of an autonomous surface vehicle and a near-infrared hyperspectral imager to rapidly sample and identify microplastics on the Norwegian coast. Results compared favorably with standard FTIR analysis and demonstrated a repeatable method for assessing spatially variable microplastic concentrations in the marine environment.

2023 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic and nanoplastic analysis methods, tests and reference materials

Researchers described a workflow combining a streamlined experimental setup with automated image analysis to quantify marine microplastic debris, addressing the limitations of labor-intensive manual counting methods that currently prevent scalable and consistent global plastic monitoring.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
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

Nano/Microplastics Capture and Degradation by Autonomous Nano/Microrobots: A Perspective

This perspective article explores how tiny self-propelled nano- and microrobots could be used to capture and break down microplastic and nanoplastic particles in water. Researchers reviewed recent advances showing these autonomous robots can efficiently collect plastic particles through enhanced physical interactions as they move through contaminated water. The technology represents a promising but still early-stage approach to actively cleaning up plastic pollution at scales too small for conventional methods.

2022 Advanced Functional Materials 98 citations
Article Tier 2

Designing a Low-Cost Microcontroller-Based Rover for Microplastic Detection Using Deep-Learning Image Detection and Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

Researchers designed a low-cost microcontroller-based rover for detecting nurdle microplastics in shoreline environments, integrating a compressed deep-learning object detection model trained on 150 images of polyethylene pellets with an AS7263 near-infrared sensor for spectral confirmation of polyethylene. The Raspberry Pi 3-based system demonstrated efficient microplastic identification across varying lighting conditions and burial depths in sand.

2023 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Application of hyperspectral imaging and machine learning for the automatic identification of microplastics on sandy beaches

Hyperspectral imaging combined with machine learning was applied to identify and classify microplastics on sandy beach surfaces, offering a faster and more scalable alternative to conventional spectroscopic analysis for large-area environmental monitoring.

2024 1 citations
Article Tier 2

An Artificial Intelligence based Optical Sensor for Microplastic Detection in Seawater

Researchers developed an AI-based optical sensor system combining an optical detection subsystem and an image acquisition subsystem to detect and identify microplastic particles in seawater, distinguishing them from naturally occurring marine particles. The device applies AI algorithms to analyze consecutive image frames and classify particles as microplastic or non-microplastic, with the full system housed in two portable cases.

2023 3 citations
Article Tier 2

A Machine Arm to Assist in Trash Sorting using machine Learning and Object Detection

Not relevant to microplastics — this paper describes a robotic arm system that uses machine learning and computer vision to sort recyclable waste materials, focused on automation of waste sorting processes.

2024 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Detection of Microplastics Using Machine Learning

Researchers reviewed and demonstrated machine learning approaches for detecting and classifying microplastics in environmental samples, finding that automated image analysis and spectral classification methods can improve the speed and accuracy of microplastic monitoring compared to manual methods.

2019 30 citations