A new cutting-edge aquatic robot inspired by a whale shark is cleaning up Leeds City Centre waterways.
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00:00My name's Paul Ellison, I'm the Managing Director of Yorkshire Design Group in Leeds.
00:03Our office is based next to the water, often I look out and sometimes you see even a cormorant
00:08that's fishing in the water and occasionally you see the litter as well and I was thinking
00:12well I hope the cormorant doesn't start eating that litter and I looked around and
00:17found Ranmarine and they supply the remote control drone, it's robotic, powered by
00:22electric batteries and motors and it can scoop up the waste from the river surface as it
00:28travels along.
00:29It's the first time we've seen businesses coming together with a little bit of local
00:31government and other enterprises, the Canal and River Trust as such, to see these waste
00:36sharks in operation in the waters where frankly they need to be seen and Leeds obviously is
00:40a city around the canals and the river and for local businesses to take such an interest
00:44in such a project like this is just, it's heartwarming, it really makes the job so pleasurable
00:48to do.
00:49Putting them together into a group and getting an organisation behind it and also teaming
00:53up with Leeds Civic Trust and the council as well and BIFA as a waste partner to handle
00:59the waste that it collects has been a really satisfying process and now to see it actually
01:03launched on the water, it's great and it's the first time we've all met as a group
01:06because it's been done online so it was a really nice thing to get together and give
01:11ourselves a modest pat on the back for launching it as a project.
01:14To draw data from this project on an instant basis, we know exactly what's going on
01:18and to be able to check and see the state of the rivers and be able to report back in
01:21the year is going to be so important. That data we pull off is going to give us an indication
01:26of the health of our rivers and I'm sad to say that I can't see things improving
01:30just in one year but it's those attitudes to making a change that are important.
01:35It's really good to bring it to the city, I think Leeds is a city of innovators and
01:39this is quite unique in that it's a first to be organised by a group of businesses in
01:44the city centre and it's a first to actually record the waste and to be operated by a social
01:49enterprise too. So we're really looking forward to the excitement that generates and
01:54we'll see what the practical output of it is over the year.