New Aquatic Robot Helps to Clean Lake Tahoe
The PixieDrone can have a preprogrammed route or it can be remote controlled. Photo by Keep Tahoe Blue
You remember our reporting on the beach cleaning robot known as the BEBOT. Now meet its water counterpart, the PixieDrone.
The League to Save Lake Tahoe, also known as, Keep Tahoe Blue has been in partnership with ECO-Clean Solutions over the years which has led to the usage of robots to help preserve Lake Tahoe.
"The League to Save Lake Tahoe although we've been around for 66 years with the goal of keeping Tahoe blue, we also can't do it by ourselves as well," said Chris Joseph, Communications Director for Keep Tahoe Blue. "So, we rely on our volunteers, thousands every year. We rely on partnerships like ECO-Clean Solutions who helped bring this innovative technology to the lake."
The PixieDrone cleaning invasive aquatic weeds and trash in the Tahoe Keys Marina in Lake Tahoe. Image by Katy Jo Caringer of ECO-CLEAN Solutions.
Aquatic invasive weeds can have a large impact and are primarily in marinas around the lake. Keep Tahoe Blue says they are the number one ecological threat to Lake Tahoe's quality and clarity. Which is why they are turning to the Pixie Drone.
"We need to keep those plants contained if we wish to keep Tahoe blue," Joseph said.
The PixieDrone can have a preprogrammed route, or it can be remote controlled. It has a six-hour battery life and 35-gallon capacity for collecting weeds, trash and plastic. Joseph describes it as a giant water Roomba with a remote control.
When preprogrammed it has a radar like system to avoid boats and docks to not hit them. The PixieDrone sucks in all the water to collect the weeds and trash. It puts the weeds and trash in its tank before returning to shore, where a person clears it out.
Joseph says if the drone continues to prove its success, they will be able to put more of them into marinas to improve the quality.
"The Pixie Drone is only operating in the Tahoe Keys Marina," Joseph said. "If it proves effective there it can work in other marinas around the lake and that's where it will stay because that's where the majority of those aquatic invasive weeds occur are in the marinas. So, we can keep the problem contained in the marina then we won't have to worry about the rest of the lake fortunately."
Keep Tahoe Blue says they are pleased with the PixieDrone's effectiveness so far and are planning to continue to test it throughout the summer.