Robotic dolphin cleans oil spills with sea urchin-inspired filter

Engineers at RMIT University in Australia have developed a small robotic device called the "Electronic Dolphin" designed to clean oil spills by vacuuming oil from water surfaces. Inspired by the structure of sea urchins, the robot uses a specialized filter coated with microscopic spikes that trap air pockets, allowing water to roll off while oil adheres to the filter. This selective absorption enables the robot to collect oil efficiently without soaking up water. The dolphin-shaped minibot is remote-controlled, roughly the size of a sneaker, and features a pump that draws oil through the filter into an onboard storage chamber. Laboratory tests showed it can recover oil at about two milliliters per minute with over 95% purity, and the filter remains effective without becoming waterlogged. The current prototype operates for about 15 minutes on battery power, but the research team envisions future versions with longer runtimes, greater pump power, and larger storage capacity. The long-term goal is to develop autonomous robots that can continuously vacuum oil,