One high-tech, robotic way to clean up Detroit
Remote-control cleaning machine about to debut on Belle Isle
In an effort to connect Detroit's automobile heritage, nonprofits' efforts to fight pollution and what some see as a high-tech future, the city announced this week an effort to deploy a robot to help keep Belle Isle beach clean.
It’s not a giant Roomba — yet. But that may be what's coming.
Unlike the autonomous vacuum, which uses sensors to roam around your house floors looking for dirt, Detroit’s first high-tech cleaning machine — dubbed the BeBot, short for beach robot — is operated by a human with a remote control and video-game dexterity.
"This is definitely a step in the direction of continuing the notion that Detroit is a hub for innovation and technology," Konner Petz, a senior mobility strategist for the city, told the Free Press. "It’s not just about mobility in the automobile industry, and we will continue to introduce technologies similar to BeBot."
In the last few years, communities nationwide — from Florida to California — have been deploying the beachcombing BeBot and other technology, such as robotic police dogs in Taylor and artificial intelligence facial recognition, with the hope of doing jobs that might be unsafe or more difficult for humans.
At the same time, the advancing tech is likely to create challenges, many of which may be unforeseen.
Petz said the next generation of the BeBot — if this version is successful — could move entirely on its own.
In addition to the city and the Belle Isle Conservancy, the project is supported by several groups, including Michigan's Department of Natural Resources, the Council of the Great Lakes Region Foundation, the Clorox Co. and Meijer.
BeBots comb beaches nationwide
In Detroit, the BeBot is set to be deployed on the beach with a mission to sift through sand and suck up large and small bits of litter,
including bottles, wrappers and cigarette butts, that may have become buried and are polluting the environment.
The beachcombing robot — which project leaders are considering giving its own name — is expected to debut to the news media on April 22, Earth Day, and then to the public by operating alongside cleanup volunteers in early June.
In Lake Tahoe, California, and Carolina Beach, North Carolina, where groups have been using the robot, reports say the BeBot has been effective.
And beach communities in Pinellas County, Florida, which depend on tourism, rolled out the BeBot two years ago. It has been working to help keep their sugar-white beaches pristine — an expectation of visitors seeking to escape the snow and ice and a requirement to protect sea life.
The BeBot — developed by a French company, Poralu Marne — is about the size of a riding mower and weighs about 1,300 pounds. It is battery- and solar-powered, using treads — like a tank — to make its way through the spongy terrain.
It also has headlights, although project officials say they don't anticipate using it at night.
In an hour, the company said, it can clean 32,000 square feet, about the area of seven basketball courts.
The BeBot cost, project officials in Detroit said, is an estimated $80,000-$90,000, a little more than the average price of a luxury car, and the money to buy it came from a one-time $150,000 grant from Oakland, Californiabased Clorox Co.
"Preserving and protecting our natural environment is a complex challenge that we can’t tackle alone," Niki King, Clorox’s vice president of sustainability, said. "It’s imperative to work with partners that share our goal of creating a cleaner world."
What the project may reveal
Belle Isle, project officials said, is a good area to try out the BeBot, and there's much to learn about how the technology could affect — and change — the area and human behavior in obvious and, perhaps, unintended ways.
Not only is the beach there a tourist spot, but the Detroit River is also an international channel.
Mark Fisher, the president and CEO of the Council of the Great Lakes Region, added that keeping the area’s beaches and waterways clean benefits the area and that the river "serves a vital economic and ecological corridor between the United States and Canada."
Project officials said the BeBot has been tested on Great Lakes beaches in Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin, and will help collect data for researchers on the trash it finds, but there is still more to learn about how well it will work on the Detroit River island, which is bigger and older than New York's Central Park.
A recent test drive on the Belle Isle beach, Petz said, revealed some challenges operating in wet sand.
Genevieve Rattray — the director of sustainability and advocacy for the Belle Isle Conservancy, who tried her hand at operating the BeBot — said the robot won't replace the need for people to pick up after themselves or help with cleanups, but it has a role to play.
"We have an incredible community of volunteers who like to come out and take care of our parks," she said, adding that the conservation groups will still need people to survey and categorize the debris for research. "I think what this does is reach a lot of areas that are more difficult for humans" to access.
Potential concerns, some unforeseen
At the same time, advanced technology is constantly creating new concerns and problems.
In the past few years, Detroit has adopted facial recognition software to help fight crime.
While some have praised its benefits, others have pointed out its flaws. Last year, a lawsuit claimed the Detroit Police Department wrongly accused and arrested a pregnant woman based on a faulty match.
The arrest, the American Civil Liberties Union said at the time, was the third known allegation of a wrongful arrest by the Detroit Police Department based on reliance on a false facial recognition match in three years, and prompted police changes.
Moreover, there are even broader concerns about how the Michigan State Police may be using data shared on more than 100 social media and internet platforms, from Facebook to TikTok and from mega-retailer Amazon to WhatsApp.
What problems — if any — might come from robot beachcombers is not yet known.
However, project technology experts are optimistic any issues that arise will be resolved.
There already are plans to add another robot, known as a PixieDrone, which also would be remotely operated, to go beyond the shoreline. The PixieDrone would float on the Detroit River and other waterways, gathering up trash and debris.
Information on Belle Isle volunteer cleanups can be found at https://www.belleisleconservancy.org/cleanup.