The technologically advanced robot picks up waste such as bottles, food wrappers, cigarette butts, and plastic particles, according to a press release. As impressive as it is, it took an equally impressive and collaborative effort to build BeBot .

Building BeBot

Keep Belle Isle Beautiful (KBIB) was launched in 2017 as part of The Belle Isle Conservancy campaign. It has already cleaned up tens of thousands of pieces of trash from the Belle Isle and its waterways. 

The US and Canada— sharing Belle Isle Beach and the Detroit River— joined forces on this issue. Add in the State of Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources, and that’s a snapshot of what it took to bring the BeBot to material life.

As they say, it takes a village.

The BeBot robot came into being thanks to the City of Detroit’s Office of Mobility Innovation and the CGLR Foundation, a team of leaders from government, business, academia, and the nonprofit sector in the Great Lakes region.

“The Detroit River serves a vital economic and ecological corridor between the United States and Canada,” said Mark Fisher, the President and CEO of the CGLR network.

“By partnering with the City of Detroit and the Belle Isle Conservancy,” Fisher continues, “as well as The Clorox Company and Meijer that share our commitment to sustainability in the Great Lakes region, we are able to keep our beaches and waterways clean and free of plastic litter as we work to end plastic waste by moving to a circular economy.”

They received a $150,000 grant from the Clorox Company to develop BeBot. The robot costs $72,705 plus another $5,300 for a trailer. We suppose that’s a container or charging device.

Beyond picking up trash, the BeBot also collects much-needed data so researchers can continue understanding the plastic pollution problem. With such efforts, researchers can study where the plastic comes from and how it moves.

Solving a $15 billion problem

But the BeBot must still prove its worth. It will undergo rigorous tests on Belle Isle beach before Earth Day. It has already undergone tests around the Great Lakes due to the support of Meijer, a supermarket company in the region.

“Meijer is proud to support the BeBot pilot program on Belle Isle Beach, which demonstrates our commitment to environmental stewardship and innovation in the Great Lakes region,” said Erik Petrovskis, Director of Environmental Compliance and Sustainability at Meijer. “As a family company with a long history of serving Michigan communities, we care deeply about the health and beauty of our natural resources and the well-being of our customers and team members. We applaud the City of Detroit for their leadership and collaboration in this groundbreaking initiative to reduce plastic waste and protect our waterways.” 

Coming up next, the city of Detroit and its partners are seeking funding for the Pixie Drone. This remotely operated floating robot collects wastes in local waterways and will cost upwards of $70,000. Detroit will need $80-90k to build another BeBot. But is it worth it? Well, plastic Pollution costs about 15 billion dollars a year, so it seems like it.

The BeBot has up to 3 hours of battery life with the option of carrying an extra battery. Additionally, it can navigate tight spaces with no problem, cleaning up almost 3 acres a day.

Humans will work alongside robots for a good cause in Detroit on Earth Day. Hopefully, we can change the narrative about robots being evil or the idea that conscious life will automatically lust for power and control. Why not? A positive direction in thought.