A robot has been created in Russia to clean ship hulls and offshore structures

MOSCOW, November 21A robot for cleaning ship hulls from algae and microorganisms was developed by scientists from the St. Petersburg State Marine Technical University (SPbSMTU). In their opinion, the project will have a positive impact on the operational qualities of water bodies and will help protect water areas from the appearance of alien organisms there. This was reported in the press service of the university.
According to the designers, the underwater part of ships during operation can become overgrown with algae and other organisms, which negatively affects seaworthiness and also increases fuel consumption. In this case, there is a threat of disturbing the ecological balance of each specific water area, since the ship brings with it organisms that are unusual for it.
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Currently, ship cleaning operations are carried out either at the docks or with the help of special diving services.

As the university explained, both scenarios are problematic and costly, as there is a shortage of docks, and the second option is also potentially dangerous for divers who interact with the vessel. Therefore, it became necessary to develop a more practical cleaning method.
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“We create robots that can move around the hull of a ship or other marine structure, both on the surface and underwater, cleaning it. Moreover, all operations can be carried out without entering the dock, right on the roadstead. A service vessel with a robot swims up to such a floating craft and, using a crane, brings it to the side. The robot clings to the body and then crawls along it, carrying out the necessary operations,” said Anton Zhilenkov, Dean of the Faculty of Digital Industrial Technologies of St. Petersburg State Medical University.

He noticed that abroad there is experience in creating similar devices, but they are not are focused on work in the roadstead, and also use a less environmentally friendly method of cleaning the hull than in the proposed Russian development.

The further task of the research team is to expand the product line. Currently, options are being developed for designing robots for cleaning swimming pools and for collecting garbage in marine areas. The entire service complex is also being worked out, including the support vessel on which the robot is stored, its diagnostic and control systems, and much more.
SPbSMTU is a participant in the state support program for universities of the Russian Federation «Priority-2030» of the national project «Science and Universities». The research is carried out jointly with the Institute of Mechanical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences.