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NORTH FORT MYERS, Florida (WBBH) -- Michael Arens created Clean Earth Rovers while attending Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. "I had heard about the ocean plastics crisis for the first time in 2017. That really kickstarted a passion for me about healthy waterways and keeping our waterways clean," said Arens.
Today, he has taken his water-cleaning robots coast to coast to clean up fish kills, red tide, oil spills, and algal blooms.
"What it is, is essentially a 'Roomba' for the waterways," said Arens.
The vessels, thanks to a GPS and lidar system, can drive themselves. The robots are also equipped with 20- to 40-foot bags that can carry up to 300 pounds. Chief Technology Officer Robert Chavart says it makes cleanup much faster.
"You're talking about deployment and recovery times when you have a spill event that used to be 4 to 6 hours. Now, you're doing it in 40 minutes," said Chavart.
Arens says it's also a lot safer to use the robots to clean up red tide and blue-green algae.
"These vessels, they're autonomous, they're hands-free. Nobody's in a boat leaning over the side. You're not breathing in that cyanobacteria that's being emitted into the air by the algae," said Arens.
There are currently six Clean Earth Rovers in Florida. Arens says they are in talks with more companies and local municipalities.
"We are the only made-in-America company that builds technologies like this," said Arens.
