By Lester Graham, Michigan Public
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; Michigan Public, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; and who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water. This independent journalism is supported by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. Find all the work HERE.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is using robots to clean a couple of beaches. The BeBot, short for beach robot, runs on tracks.
Bebots are “remote controlled, electric powered beach cleaners, and they’re on a smaller scale than some of the ones that typically are pulled behind with a tractor on the bigger beaches,” said Ron Olson, chief of parks and recreation for the agency.
He said the machines screen the sand, picking up debris.
“Perhaps broken glass or cigarette butts, or other discarded material, plastic or other kinds of things that may have been discarded or inadvertently left as litter,” Olson explained.
According to a DNR news release, the machines can cover 32,000 square feet per hour. That means their use is limited to smaller beaches.
“So, we have one at Belle Isle that was donated. And then we have one that we purchased at Brighton State Recreation Area. I’ve seen the unit run and actually did it myself. It operates with a joystick.”
A DNR supervisor at the Brighton Recreation Area, Rowdy Perry, said in the news release that the BeBot not only helps clean the beach, “but it also serves as a conversation starter to educate the public about the importance of clean beaches and water across the state.”
The DNR will continue to test the BeBots. Depending on how well they work, more might be used at other smaller beaches.
Catch more news at Great Lakes Now:
How much can wetland restoration reduce farm fertilizers getting into Lake Erie?
Why some municipalities are looking at putting solar panels on water
Featured image: A BeBot is controlled through a joystick. Christina Burke operates one at the Brighton Recreation Area. (Michigan DNR)
