R&D highlights edition 2019

PROJECTS Enabling Technologies I magine it is a nice hot summer day and you want to take a swim in a nearby lake to cool down. When you arrive, you see that the water is green and there are signs saying: ‘bathing prohibited: toxic algae’. Unfortunately, this is a common event at many lakes throughout the world, mainly near urban areas. Deltares devised a solution to not only suppress the algae but also to improve the water quality by removing them. Working with students from The Hague University of Applied Sciences and the Delft University of Technology, Deltares has designed an autonomous vessel which can navigate autonomously and detect and remove the algae. Initial testing was in the Netherlands, but the prototype generated international attention. Upscaling and application in a water reservoir in Singapore is now planned. There are still technical challenges to overcome, such as the idea of trailing barges (ducklings) behind the algae removal vessel (the rubber duck) so that the vessel can continue harvesting while the ducklings transport the harvested algae to a central storage facility (the nest). We are working with the valorisation centre of Delft University of Technology to make the most of rapid developments in the field of autonomous moving platforms (drones, cars and boats). The duck has been fitted with 2D LIDAR, an optical camera and GPS for navigation and collision avoidance, and it can be controlled with a phone app using Google Maps to plot a sailing track. The challenge for Deltares is to use the rubber duck to improve the interaction between numerical model predictions for algae blooming and the live observation of algae by the algae harvesting vessel. A mass balance on the algae that have been harvested and removed can be used to calculate the improvement in water quality and therefore to help predict when the water is clean enough to stop the algae blooming. In 2019, we are setting up a consortium with water authorities (national and international) to further the development and testing of the vessel and to work with the students on the establishment of a business plan for a start-up company with help from the shipbuilding company Royal IHC. Although2019 is needed for testing and development, we hope we can provide water authorities with an operational algae removal solution for lakes in 2020 so that you can go for a well-earned swim in the summer. Contact: Arjan Wijdeveld, Arjan.Wijdeveld@deltares.nl Tjitte Nauta, Tjitte.Nauta@deltares.nl Further reading : https://www.bloomingrobotics.nl/ The rubber ducky is an autonomous operating vessel for harvesting algae with the aim of improving water quality in lakes. The rubber duckyhas beendeveloped by multiple student teams and it is now ready for proof-of-concept testing in a lake. The challenge is for a student start-up company to come up with an attractive business proposal for water authorities. A RUBBER DUCKY TO REMOVE BLOOMING ALGAE 62