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17 First the craft can measure its own weight by the power it uses – if it’s heavier it uses more power, so we know how much trash has been collected. “If you then link the data about a particular location that has a lot of rubbish to be collected with data on whether the tide is high or low, and wind direction for example, then if those same conditions occur the craft will go back to that location first, rather than spend time following a preset pattern. “That means the efficiency is higher, because the batteries last longer as they are not going through the grid pattern, so the idea is to create something that is more like vacuuming. The craft gives us the ability to repeat these actions over and over again; the idea is to stop the waste problem at source.” Different ports have different requirements for the technology. For example, Hardiman is working with the port at Durban in South Africa, which has three rivers running into it. “A lot of waste comes down those rivers, and the authorities have to close the docks when the rivers flood – you are talking Richard Hardiman | In conversation Unmanned Systems Technology | December/January 2017 Testing the autonomous operation of the Waste Shark autonomous surface vehicle in an indoor pool. Its principal application is to scoop up rubbish from the water’s surface in ports and canals a vessel to clean up, avoiding a vessel’s owner having to pay any fines.” Hardiman is working to make the technology as simple to use as possible. “You need to have the end-customer in mind, and the people behind the ports at Rotterdam or LA or San Francisco are experienced in using technology, but in Africa perhaps there aren’t the same resources, so any system needs to be as simple as possible. “If there’s a problem with the thruster for example it has to be as simple as possible to replace it. That’s why we have only two moving parts on the craft – the thruster and the rudder. “The simplicity in the Waste Shark is that we run it off Google Maps and GPS, so it knows where it is, and we use tidal and weather APIs so it knows what the conditions are. We are using waypoints to determine the area of operation and it runs a pattern so it cleans up that area. “The next step is to add intelligence. Richard Hardiman, CEO and founder of RanMarine The Waste Shark collects dock trash in a special basket