Simulation of an Autonomous Waste-Collecting Ship using MATLAB - Simulink
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At Solveng, we believe in developing engineering solutions that address real-world challenges. One such challenge is water pollution; specifically the accumulation of floating waste in lakes, rivers, and oceans. To explore innovative ways of tackling this issue, we developed a Simulink-based simulation of an autonomous ship designed to collect waste from water bodies.
Project Overview
The concept is simple but impactful: a small autonomous ship moves across the water surface, detects waste in its path, and collects it into an onboard container. By simulating its motion and collection strategy in MATLAB Simulink, we were able to test its dynamics, trajectory, and waste-collection efficiency without the need for a physical prototype in the early stages.
The Simulation
As shown in the figure, the simulation provides multiple perspectives of the ship's operation:
Front View: Visualizes the ship moving through the water and engaging with the waste.
Top View: Displays the path of the ship as it navigates and collects floating debris, represented in the simulation by defined trajectories.
Side View: Highlights the stability and interaction of the ship with the water surface.
This multi-view setup helped us verify the motion control, waste collection mechanism, and overall efficiency of the design.
Key Features
Dynamic Modeling: The ship’s movement is governed by realistic dynamics to replicate actual marine behavior.
Waste Detection & Collection: Floating waste is detected and guided toward the collection zone of the ship.
Trajectory Tracking: The simulation demonstrates smooth and controlled navigation along a predefined path.
Why It Matters
Marine waste is one of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time. Projects like this show how engineering, automation, and simulation can come together to design smarter, more efficient waste management solutions for our water systems. While this is just an early-stage simulation, it lays the groundwork for future development of real-world autonomous waste-collecting vessels.
